LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
r, Q ,L r G7g- 

[)ty Copyright No. 

UNfiTED STATES OF AMERICA. 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT 
THEM TO OUR HOMES 



■?&&&• 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT 
THEM TO OUR HOMES 



BY 



D. LANGE 

AUTHOR OF " HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY " 

INSTRUCTOR IN NATURE STUDY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 

1899 

All rights reserved 



Offlo» o f th# 

te)2-1R0Q 



48618 



Copyright, 1899, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



SECOND COPY f 



jEj JUL .•%- .=) <3 . 



Nortoooti i^rrss 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

In the following pages an effort has been made to 
point out several means for bird protection which can- 
not be embodied in legal enactments. We are always 
ready to pass a law against an evil, but too often we 
provide insufficient means to carry out and enforce the 
provisions -of the law. This, I regret to state, is the 
greatest obstacle to the effective legal protection of 
song birds, game birds, and mammals. If the friends 
of birds and nature do not tire in the good work of 
educating the young of the nation on these subjects, 
the time will come when game wardens will have much 
less to do than now. Education works slow, but it is 
effective. 

My thanks are due to Mr. William T. Hornaday for 
permission to quote from his most interesting and val- 
uable report on " The Destruction of our Birds and 
Mammals " made to the New York Zoological Society, 
and published by that society in its second annual 
report. Mrs. Elizabeth B. Davenport of Brattleboro, 
Vermont, has contributed from her long experience to 
the chapter on Feeding Birds in Winter, and Mr. 
Frank Bond of Cheyenne, Wyoming, describes his very 



vi PREFACE 

effective method of dealing with the English sparrow. 
My thanks are also due to several friends who have 
made valuable suggestions to me. The pen-and-ink 
drawings were made by Mr. Herman Giehler of St. 
Paul, Minnesota. 

The special Bird Day matter, it is hoped, will be 
found useful in schools. 

I should be glad to hear from any one who may try 
to protect and attract birds by the methods and devices 
recommended, or who may have new methods and de- 
vices to communicate. I hope that in the near future 
our State Agricultural Experiment Stations will pay 
more attention to the relation of birds to our homes 
and to farming and gardening, and to the study of the 
best means for protecting them. 

D. LANGE. 

St. Paul, Minnesota, 
September, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



SECTION I 

PAGE 

Are the Birds decreasing? 1 



SECTION" II 

Causes of the decrease of Song Birds 6 

SECTION III 
The Decrease of Game Birds 13 

SECTION IV 

Protecting Song Birds and attracting them to our 

Homes .19 

Chapter I 

By furnishing them Trees, Vines, and Shrubs. Flowers 
for Hummingbirds. General Suggestions for Tree- 
planting for Birds. Rural Schools and Nature . . 19 

Chapter II 

Provide Nesting-boxes. Do not cut down every Hollow 

Tree 33 

Chapter III 
Provide Drinking and Bathing Fountains . • . 42 

vii 



viii CONTEXTS 

Chapter IV 

PAGE 

Feeding Birds in Winter, and in Unfavorable Weather at 

Other Seasons 46 

Chapter V 

Miscellaneous. Dust Baths, Gravel, and Lime . . 62 

Chapter VI 

Protecting the Birds from their Natural Enemies . . 64 

Chapter VII 

The English Sparrow Question 72 

Chapter VIII 

Birds on Hats, Bo} T s, Collectors, So-called Bird Students, 

Bird Hunters, Ubiquitous Gunners .... 81 

Chapter IX 
Song Birds as Food 90 

SECTION V 
Education and the Birds 92 

Chapter X 
Educating Adults 92 

Chapter XI 
Educating the Growing Generation 96 

SECTION VI 
The Birds before Uncle Sam 99 



CONTENTS ix 

SECTION VII 

PAGE 

Game Protection from the Nature Lover's Point of 

View 126 

SECTION VIII 
Miscellaneous Information 144 



I plead 
For flowers, smiling fairies of the ground; 
For birds, on wings and breezes skyward bound ; 
For trees, the lofty spires of hills we roam ; 
For beasts, still persecuted in their forest home. 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

HOW TO PROTECT THEM AXD ATTRACT 
THEM TO OUR HOMES 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

SECTION I 

ARE THE BIRDS DECREASING 

About a year ago Mr. William T. Hornaclay com- 
piled what might be termed the first bird census of 
the United States. 1 He sent the following set of 
questions to a number of persons in every state and 
territory, excepting Alaska : — 

1. Are birds decreasing in your locality ? 

2. About how many are there now in comparison 
with the number fifteen years ago ? One-half as 
many ? one-third ? one-fourth ? 

3. What agency, or class of men, has been most 
destructive to the birds of your locality ? 

4. What important species of birds or quadrupeds 
are becoming extinct in your state ? 

The answers received to those questions and the 
conclusions drawn from them must, on the whole, be 
accepted as trustworthy. The following states reported 

1 " The Destruction of our Birds and Mammals," by W. T. Horna- 
day. In the "Second Report of the New York Zoological Society," 
New York, 1898. Office of the Society, 69 Wall Street. The most 
valuable document ever published on the subject. 

B 1 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



a decrease of bird life varying from 10 per cent in 
Nebraska to 77 per cent in Florida, namely : — 



Arkansas, 


50 


per 


cent 


Mississippi, 


37 per cent 


District of Columbia 


. 33 


a 


tt 


Missouri, 


36 < 


t a 


Colorado, 


28 


a 


a 


Montana, 


75 ' 


i a 


Connecticut, 


75 


a 


a 


New Hampshire, 


32 < 


t u 


Florida, 


77 


a 


it 


New Jersey, 


37 ' 


i u 


Georgia, 


65 


u 


a 


New York, 


48 < 


i it 


Ida 1 10, 


40 


a 


a 


Nebraska, 


10 < 


i u 


Illinois, 


38 


a 


it 


North Dakota, 


58 < 


i a 


Indiana, 


60 


a 


a 


Ohio, 


38 « 


i a 


Indian Territory, 


75 


a 


it 


Pennsylvania, 


51 ' 


i a 


Iowa, 


37 


a 


a 


Rhode Island, 


60 ' 


i a 


Louisiana, 


55 


a 


ti 


South Carolina, 


32 < 


t a 


Maine, 


52 


a 


a 


Texas, 


67 < 


i a 


Massachusetts, 


27 


Li 


a 


Vermont, 


30 < 


i a 


Michigan, 


23 


a 


a 


Wisconsin, 


40 ' 


i a 



These states and territories comprise about three- 
fifths of the whole United States, and this vast area 
shows an average decrease of 46 per cent. 

The states of North Carolina, Oregon, and California 
reported that there were as many birds as fifteen years 
ago. 

Four states — Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, and Wash- 
ington — reported that bird life was increasing. 

It is to be regretted that Minnesota, South Dakota, 
Arizona, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ala- 
bama, Nevada, Delaware, Maryland, and the Dominion 
of Canada were not included in this report. 

The questions sent out refer to game birds as well as 
to song birds. A large decrease in aquatic birds is to 
be expected and cannot be prevented when a new 



ARE THE BIRDS DECREASING 3 

country is settled, or when the population increases in 
an old country. The gallinaceous game birds, like 
grouse, partridge, and quail, should not decrease in a 
farming district, unless they are hunted during the 
closed season, or hunted too much during the open sea- 
son. 1 It is quite likely that want of water may also 
cause a scarcity of these birds. 

Admitting that a general decrease in game birds was 
to be expected under the game laws as they have been 
enacted and enforced in these states, it is a deplorable 
fact that the song birds have also greatly decreased. 

For Minnesota I make the following estimate based 
on my own observations and on that of others : Cat- 
birds, brown thrushes, nieadow larks, kingbirds, rose- 
breasted grosbeaks, swallows, swifts, red-headed wood- 
peckers, blue jays, and quails have increased. This 
increase is particularly noticeable in the case of the last 
six. In the spring of 1898, I often heard two rose- 
breasted grosbeaks sing near the corner of Seventh 
Street and Maria Avenue, St. Paul, where an electric car 
passes at least every three minutes. Pinnated grouse, 
or prairie-chickens, and partridges have decreased. 

Ducks in general have decreased on account of the 
drying up and draining of sloughs and swamps, and on 
account of excessive shooting, especially on account of 
shooting in the spring. Wood ducks, red-heads, mer- 
gansers, and canvas-back have decreased 50 per cent, all 
on account of much hunting. Green-winged teal, mal- 

1 The closed season is the time during which hunting or fishing is 
prohibited by law. In the open season fishing and hunting are legal. 



4 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

lards, pin-tails, and widgeons have maintained the bal- 
ance, while the blue-winged teal and the ruddy duck 
have increased. 

Robins have decreased on account of being shot by 
farmers for depredation on berries. Bluebirds have 
decreased 50 per cent. Mr. J. B. Bean, of Nicollet, 
Minn., thinks that the great decrease in bluebirds is 
due to the late spring snow storm of a few years ago, 
when he found many bluebirds lying starved on the 
snow. In the spring and summer of 1898, I travelled 
from the southwest corner to the northeast corner of 
Minnesota and found all kinds of birds everywhere very 
numerous. I also saw more bluebirds than I had seen for 
years. The only causes I can suggest for this decided 
increase over previous years was a late spring with no 
late night frosts. The late spring may have prevented 
many birds from going farther north, and the absence of 
late frosts would favor their nesting and the rearing of 
the young. 

Birds will often decrease or disappear from one local- 
ity and appear and increase in another locality. The 
red-headed woodpecker has, for instance, disappeared 
from some localities in St. Paul and appeared and in- 
creased in others. In May, 1898, I saw the bird on 
the open prairie, near a railroad track, five miles from 
the nearest natural scrub timber. The farm groves in 
that district are too young for woodpecker nests, but 
the birds, no doubt, nested in telegraph poles. I have 
found the same birds very numerous in burnt-over 
regions, where they nested in fire-killed trees. It 



ARE THE BIRDS DECREASING 5 

seems to me that for various reasons some of our birds 
have withdrawn into regions that are not often visited 
by the great majority of observers, and that there has 
been a general drifting from the eastern toward the 
western states. A number of years ago I certainly 
never saw a red-headed woodpecker on Minnesota 
prairies. I call attention to these facts to show how 
difficult it is to take a bird census and to find a trust- 
worthy average for a large state with much variegated 
landscape features. 



SECTION II 

CAUSES FOR THE DECREASE OF SONG BIRDS 

i. Lack of Nesting Places. — It is known to every 
country boy that woodpeckers and nuthatches are the 
carpenters of the bird world. They excavate old and 
decaying trees and limbs, and in the holes and hollows 
make houses for their young. Where old trees are 
numerous, these bird carpenters build more houses than 
they need for themselves, and the vacant or deserted 
woodpecker homes are eagerly sought by chickadees, 
titmice, brown creepers, wrens, and bluebirds ; each 
bird selecting from the " To Rent " list a house which 
in size and location suits its taste. In larger holes, 
which probably were caused by the decay of broken 
branches and were enlarged by woodpeckers, small owls 
and the beautiful wood duck build their nests. 

But where can these birds nest, when there are no 
old, hollow trees left standing ? Most of them are com- 
pelled to leave the regions where their natural homes 
are no longer found. A few make use of old telegraph 
poles, old fence posts, and other substitutes. These 
places are, however, very much exposed to cats, birds of 
prey, thoughtless boys, and adult fool gunners. After 
one or two seasons the linemen put in a new telegraph 

6 



CAUSES FOR The decrease of song birds 7 

pole and the thrifty farmer replaces the old post. The 
birds are again homeless. 

Another large class of song birds like the robin, the 
catbird, the brown thrush, the rose-breasted grosbeak, 
and nearly all the warblers, vireos, and many native 
sparrows either nest in brush, in tangles, and on low 
trees ; or they love, at least, to be near such cover. 
Where the farmer cuts clown all large trees and then 
pastures his cattle on a few acres of woodland, no 
underbrush and no tangles are left. American city 
lots and parks, for the most part, at least, also furnish 
but little shrubbery and very few of those thickets in 
which the birds love to nest and to live. The result is 
that native birds are scarce. 

2. Lack of Water. — Nearly all birds love the vicinity 
of water. They drink frequently and love to bathe on 
the shallow banks of sand and pebbles. In most 
densely settled farming regions, nearly all ponds and 
many small lakes have been drained off and many 
streams and springs have dried up, either on account of 
the general drainage or on account of the clearing away 
of timber. The duck pond of the farmer is too near 
the house, is too far from cover, and is often dry. The 
pump trough is not available for the birds, because 
they cannot reach the water from its high rim. The 
conditions in most towns and cities are still more 
unfavorable. If the town has no water- works, it is 
practically uninhabitable for most birds. If it has 
water-works, the birds can drink and bathe only where 
the hose is placed on the lawn and allowed to run 



8 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

for several hours. Need we be surprised that we miss 
the birds under these conditions? 

3. Cats. — All domestic cats catch a bird, whenever 
they can, and many are confirmed bird and nest hunters. 
On the ground, in holes and boxes, in shrubs, and on 
small trees, birds and nests are alike exposed to their 
attacks. About the only nest a cat cannot reach is 
that of the Baltimore oriole, but should an overbold 
oriole fledgling fall to the ground, before it is wary 
and has mastered the new art of flying, the ever watch- 
ing cats are almost sure to get it. And how many 
young birds fall to the ground out of the nest or from 
their perch ! 

If we consider that many farmers seem to keep about 
as many cats as the farm would support mice, and that 
many city families will, at least, keep a worthless cat, 
if not also a worthless cur, the scarcity of birds need 
not puzzle us. 

I have often wondered if some species of small owl 
could not be domesticated, and displace the cat as a 
mouser. Some bird-lover ought to make careful exper- 
iments with owls for this purpose. 

4. Boys, Collectors, and So-called Bird Students. — My 
experience with boys enables me to say that parents, 
teachers, and other adults are responsible for most of the 
mischief boys commit against birds. They are easily 
turned into bird protectors, as I shall show later. The 
individual with the egg and skin collecting mania, and 
the individual who makes collecting in a settled country 
a business are nuisances. Several periodicals and many 



CAUSES FOR THE DECREASE OF SONG BIRDS 9 

of the people who write for them and advertise in them 
belong to the same class. 

We do not want more birds in dark and dusty collec- 
tions ; we want more birds to sing to us and our children 
from bushes and tree tops. 

5. Birds on Hats. — The wearing of birds 011 hats 
has fearfully decreased, or almost exterminated a num- 
ber of bright-plumed southern birds. I have not learned 
of song birds being hunted in the central and northern 
states of the Mississippi basin to adorn ladies' hats. 1 

6. The English Sparrow. — There can be no doubt 
but that this pugilistic, chattering rogue worries away 
very many birds which would otherwise nest near our 
homes ; however, its sins have probably been somewhat 
exaggerated. 

7. The Lack of Food. — Insects of nearly all kinds 
and waste grain are so abundant in every settled region 
that perhaps no species of song bird has decreased on 
account of lack of food during the summer time. For 
autumn and spring migrants and for winter residents 
there is no such regular and abundant food supply. 

8. The Extensive Use of Poison in Farming and Garden- 
ing. — I cite this as a possible cause for the decrease of 
birds, Since the potato-bug has spread over the whole 
country every gardener and farmer uses large quantities 

1 See : "The Wearing of Heron's Plumes or Aigrettes," by Frank 
M. Chapman. Published by the Audubon Societies of New Jersey and 
New York. Write for it to the secretary of any State Audubon 
Society. 

See also: "The Work of the Audubon Societies," by the same 
author, in the Delineator, March, 1898. 



10 OUE, NATIVE BIItDS 

of Paris green and other arsenical poisons. Although 
I have no evidence and am not aware that the subject 
has been investigated by any scientist, it seems that a 
number of insectivorous birds that are known to eat 
potato-bugs must be, at times, poisoned by eating insects 
paralysed by Paris green. It has been repeatedly 
observed that corn which has been impregnated with 
strychnine for killing gophers, blackbirds, and crows is 
at times eaten by quails, prairie-chickens, mourning 
doves, meadow larks, and other seed-eaters. 

The only w r ay to avoid the poisoning of song and game 
birds is to restrict the use of poisons to the most serious 
cases of insect, bird, and vermin pests — to cases that 
cannot be reached by any other means. We should not 
forget that birds and animals do not commit crimes 
against us ; they simply live as their nature compels 
them to. If they wage war against us, they are simply 
fighting the battle for existence, which is the divine 
right of all life, and of animals and plants as well as of 
man ; it is the unalienable birthright of all nature. 
Humane nations and humane thinkers have lon^ ceased 
to consider all means fair in war. Should not man, 
who is now so far ahead in the struggle, consider some 
means unfair in his war with the lower creatures, espe- 
cially as they cannot use unfair means ? 

We have need of much more light on the question of 
injurious birds and animals. Nearly every farmer and 
gardener is apt to exaggerate the injury caused him by 
bird or beast, because this injury is conspicuous, and is 
done within a few months, weeks, days, or even 



CAUSES FOR THE DECRExlSE OF SONG BIRDS 11 

hours. But the benefits rendered extend over the 
whole season or year, and elude the observation of most 
people. An owl may catch a thousand mice in a year, 
and the farmer does not know that there is an owl 
within a mile of his place, but let the owl catch a stray 
pullet and he is at once sentenced to be shot without 
investigation. 

The dog and the cat, on the other hand, are held in 
much higher esteem than they deserve. In the city, 
nine dogs out of every ten are a nuisance, and consti- 
tute an element of danger to the inhabitants. 

In the country, at least every other dog lives on 
bread he never earned and is nothing but a worthless 
Ishmaelite, whose teeth and claws are against every 
creature, from the moose in the forest to the mouse in 
the meadow. 

CAUSES OF DECREASE IK BIRD LIFE AS GIVEN IN 

w. t. hornaday's report. 1 

Of the series of one hundred and ninety reports now 
before us, about 80 per cent declare a decrease in bird 
life and state the causes therefor. The list of destruc- 
tive agencies now operating against our birds is a long 
one, and it is interesting to note the number of oberv- 
ers who complain of each. The figures given below 
show the number of observers who have reported each 

1 This and other extracts from Mr. W. T. Hornaday's report on 
"The Destruction of our Birds and Mammals" are taken from his 
report as published by the New York Zoological Society with the per- 
mission of the author. 



12 



OUR NATIVE BIIJDS 



of these various causes in answer to the third question 
in the list. 



1. Sportsmen and "so-called sportsmen," 

2. Boys who shoot, .... 

3. Market-hunters and " pot-hunters," . 

4. Plume-hunters and milliners' hunters, 

5. " Shooters generally," 

6. Egg-collecting, chiefly by small boys, 

7. English sparrow, .... 
S. Clearing off timber, development of towns and 

cities, ...... 

9. Italians and others, who devour song birds, 

10. Cheap firearms, .... 

11. Drainage of marshes, 

12. Xon-enforcement of laws, . 

13. Gun clubs and hunting contests 
1-1. Trapping birds for sale alive, . 

15. Prospectors, miners, and range-riders, 

16. Collectors (ornithologists and taxidermists) 

17. Colored population, ..... 

18. Indians (for decrease of game quadrupeds), 



54 


reports 


42 


tt 


26 


a 


32 


ft 


21 


ft 


20 


a 


18 


ft 


31 


ft 


12 


ft 


5 


ft 


5 


ft 


5 


ft 


5 


ft 


2 


ft 


2 


« 


5 


ft 


4 


ft 


4 


ft 



SECTION III 

THE DECREASE OF GAME BIRDS 

Prairie-chickens, partridges, and quails are always 
more or less abundant, unless they are hunted too much, 
or cannot find some shelter in timber during winter. 
For the protection of all our gallinaceous game birds, we 
need good and rigidly enforced game laws. The case 
of aquatic game birds I shall illustrate by a concrete 
example. 

About twenty years ago, Loon Lake in Minnesota, 
covered an area of about fifteen square miles, and was 
from two to twenty-five feet deep. At that time swans 
and pelicans visited the lake in fall and spring, but no 
longer bred there. Canada geese, ducks, and coots 
nested on the lake. The lake teemed with pickerel, 
pike, and bullhead. On the tall trees of one of the 
many wooded peninsulas the great blue heron, the black- 
crowned night heron, and the black cormorants had 
established a large, flourishing heronry. 

In the fall of 1880 the lake was lower than usual. 
In the following winter a very heavy layer of snow 
covered the ice and in the spring of 1881 thousands of 
dead pickerel were cast ashore. This general destruc- 
tion was caused by lack of air. Pelicans were not 

13 



14 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

known on the lake after this destruction of the fish, but 
swans still visit the lake in spring and fall. 

Great blue herons and cormorants continued fairly 
numerous until in the summer of 1895 or 1896, when 
the water was so low that the bullheads died ; then 
these birds left the lake. In the autumn of 1896, by 
far the greater part of the lake was a mud-flat, and 
there were only a few ducks found on it. 

In the spring of 1897 the water again rose to an 
average depth of about two and one-half feet, and in 
that autumn nearly all kinds of ducks were again 
present in great numbers. An astonishing number of 
coots bred there or arrived in fall. 

The spring of 1898 was late in coming, but there 
was no relapse into winter. When the lake was well 
clear of ice, the spring shooting season had closed, and 
great numbers of ducks, of different species, bred on 
the lake because they were not disturbed by hunters. 
The average depth of the water was about two and one 
half feet in August. On the twenty-fourth of that 
month I saw a flock of red-heads, mostly young, which 
I estimated to contain about 800 individuals. Blue- 
winged teal and mallards were also very numerous 
and there was a sprinkling of other species. The num- 
ber of coots was almost incredible. Following an ir- 
regular shore fringe of rushes with a field-glass for 
about five miles, I estimated the number seen from 
one point to be about 10,000. The change in the water 
level was, of course, accompanied by a corresponding 
change in aquatic plants. In the summer of 1898 



THE DECREASE OF GAME BIRDS 15 

there were many square miles of water pest, elodea, and 
extensive areas of water celery, vallisneria. The latter 
is the favorite food of the red-head and the canvas- 
back duck. The only fish observed were numerous 
small minnows, wherever the weeds left enough clear 
water for them to swim about in. 

The changes in the level of the lake were principally 
produced by corresponding changes in the supply of 
rain and snow. 

The above sketch proves that a sufficient water 
supply will insure a sufficient food supply for aquatic 
birds ; and if they are not hunted in spring, and not 
hunted too much in fall, ducks at least are likely to be 
numerous wherever natural conditions favor them. 
Geese, cranes, swans, and pelicans are so large and 
conspicuous that they always attract attention and are 
disturbed. Thus they become very wild and wary, and 
leave settled regions. 

If large birds were not so thoughtlessly persecuted, 
they would become accustomed to live and breed in 
settled regions, so that nearly everybody would have 
an opportunity to observe such as Canada geese, loons, 
and herons in their natural environments. This is 
proved by the state of semi-domestication in which the 
white stork lives in Germany and in other countries. 
The bird is about as large as our great blue heron and 
is very conspicuously colored, but as it is not molested 
by the people, it builds its nest on the roofs of houses 
and other buildings, and hunts frogs, lizards, and 
snakes on the village meadows, and fishes in the 



16 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

nearest streams and ponds. The peasants often place 
cartwheels on the gables, where the storks use them as 
convenient foundations for nests. The same birds 
have been known to return to the same house for 
many successive years. Not all birds can be accus- 
tomed to live near man. The black stork of Europe 
is still the wild bird of the fens and moors. I have 
several times found its nest in lonely moorland forests, 
where it was built on tall pines that were almost 
inaccessible even to an enthusiastic boy. Where the 
white stork built when its present range was covered 
by the vast, gloomy forests which Caesar and Tacitus 
describe, I do not know. 

Much missionary work has still to be done before we 
may hope to protect large, conspicuous birds. A 
German proverb says : " The fools never become ex- 
tinct," but I hope that schools, educative societies, law, 
and police may in the near future practically exter- 
minate the bird -destroying variety. 1 

Although this little book is principally concerned 
with song birds, I cannot pass the opportunity of 
saying a few words on other wild creatures ; — for who 
would like to have all the wild Indian romance hunted 
and driven away from our marshes and woods ? A 
lake, where j^ou may chance upon a stately heron, 
surprise a beautiful wood duck, or espy a flock of wild, 
honking geese, is always full of charm and virile in- 
spiration ; but what man or woman, boy or girl, is 

1 See Hatch, " Birds of Minnesota," on herons on Crane Island, in 
Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. 



THE DECREASE OF GAME BOIDS 17 

stirred by the insipid combination of nothing but 
water, weeds, and ripples ? In such a place you feel 
keenly a want of harmony, only a part of the " Each 
and All " is there, you encounter the painful desolation 
of a deserted home, and confess with a pang that 
you and your kindred, either by deed or by neglect, 
are responsible for this emptiness of nature. The wild 
creatures' Eden is there. The birds have never sinned 
against God or man. Why have we banished them to 
the sub- Arctic wastes ? 

How interesting and truly romantic is a boat trip, 
when you may expect a deer coming out from the 
thicket to drink, when you know wild-cats and bears 
may be listening to your voice. How stale and tame 
the whole journey becomes, when a six-inch pickerel 
is the wildest creature you may expect to view. There 
you cannot help thinking that for every lover of nature 
this world is becoming a tiresome place. Is the time 
rapidly approaching when English sparrows, brown 
rats, and cottontails will be the biggest wild creatures 
in the country? We read in the Holy Book that 
" God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, 
it was very good." I fear that, unless the taste of 
Him Who is unchangeable has undergone a decided 
change, He must at this time be much disgusted with 
a large part of the earth He created. Man, whom He 
gave dominion over all, is indeed ruling the earth, but 
he is not ruling it like a wise, beneficent father ; he is 
ruling it like a greedy, despotic conqueror. 

It is high time that all lovers of nature wake up, 
c 



18 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

that especially all teachers and educators awake and 
join the forces that are now working to preserve for 
ourselves and our children that great and beautiful 
Nature whose spirit we feel in Evangeline, and whose 
very soul speaks to us from Hiawatha. Let us not 
make the inspiration of future poets impossible. 



SECTION IV 

PROTECTING SONG BIRDS AND ATTRACTING THEM 
TO OUR HOMES 

CHAPTER I 

BY FURNISHING THEM TREES, VINES, AND SHRUBS 

What to Plant. — Species that grow wild in your 
vicinity are likely to thrive best and attract the greatest 
number of birds. None but perfectly hardy species 
should be selected. Just what you want will depend 
on your intentions and on the space and locality you 
have at your disposal. As it would be impossible to 
give detailed directions suitable for all parts of the 
country, I must refer those looking for more specific 
directions to reliable nursery men, to the Agricultural 
Experiment stations, to superintendents of city parks, 
and to the publications of the United States Forestry 
Division, Washington, D.C. Cottonwoods and wil- 
lows are among the poorest trees for attracting birds. 
Nearly all prairie groves should have much more 
underbrush, for which almost any shade-enduring 
shrub, bush, or vine would answer. A grove of mixed 
trees attracts more birds than a grove consisting of 
one kind only. 1 

1 On the food of birds see Farmers' Bulletin No. 54. See Merriam, 
" Birds of Village and Field," on planting of shrubbery to protect cul- 
tivated fruit from birds. Pages xxiii-xxviii. 

19 



20 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Source of Stock. — You might raise the plants from 
seeds or procure them from the woods, but in most 
cases it will be cheaper to buy of a reliable nursery, 
stating the purpose for which you wish the plants and 
what place and soil they are to be planted in. 

Time for Planting. — The best time for planting is 
early in the spring, just as growth begins, but before 
the leaves have come out. 

Planting of Evergreens. — All evergreens are very 
sensitive to moving. The greatest care must be taken 
to prevent the fine rootlets from becoming dry. They 
are best planted in early spring, as soon as the ground 
can be conveniently worked. 

Watering. — If the season is dry, it may become 
necessary to water the young trees until their root 
system has well developed. Give plenty of water, if 
you water at all, or you will simply cause a hard crust 
to be formed of the surface soil. 

Tiviners, like hops, moonseed, and waxberry, Celas- 
trus scande?is, prefer poles or posts from one to three 
inches thick, and will not twine around supports much 
thicker. It is not advisable to plant them near 
valuable young trees, as they tend to strangle them. 

When, in the lists following, one Latin name is given 
with the English name of a plant, the genus only is 
referred to ; when two Latin words follow the English 
name, a certain species is referred to. It was not possi- 
ble or advisable in most cases to refer to a particular 
species, as of most genera a number of valuable species 
are found in the different sections of the country. 




Fig. 1. — Wild Yam Vine on Spray of Wild Haw. About One- 
third Natural Size. 
21 



22 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Nursery men are likely to offer species which have been 
introduced from Europe or Asia, but they will generally 
answer just as well, provided they are hardy in the region 
where they are wanted. The letters N., S., M., W., 
mean that the respective plant is found or that the 
genus is represented in the North, South, Rocky Moun- 
tains, and on the Pacific Slope respectively. On the 
distribution of species and genera I have consulted : — 

1. Gray, Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. 

Sixth edition. 

2. Britton and Brown, Illustrated Flora of the Northern United 

States and Canada. 

3. Chapman, Flora of the Southern United States. Second edition. 

4. Coulter, Manual of the Botany of the Rocky Mountain Region. 

5. Whitney and Watson, Botany of California. 

I believe that our native trees, shrubs, vines, and 
flowers should be used much more for ornamental pur- 
poses. .Readers who may wish to know the more con- 
spicuous wild flowers are referred to Mrs. Dana, " How 
to know the Wild Flowers," and to Parsons and Buck, 
"The Wild Flowers of California." 

Both books are illustrated and are well adapted to the 
purpose they intend to serve, and show that hundreds 
of our wild flowers deserve a place in our parks and 
gardens. 

Our schools in observing Bird and Arbor Day, or 
Nature Day, should not neglect vines, shrubs, and 
flowers. Your space for trees may be limited, but you 
can always find corners, fences, and walls for vines, 
shrubs, and flowers, and it is generally easier to make 



TREES, VINES, AND SHRUBS 



23 



these smaller plants grow. When you transfer wild 
plants to your lawns and gardens, do not fail to ob- 
serve closely under what conditions they grow, and 




Fig. 2. — False Bittersweet. The Pale Orange Arils have not 
yet opened. about one-fourth natural slze. 



then surround them, as far as possible, by the same 
conditions of light, shade, temperature, soil, and moist- 



24 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

ure. A shade-loving plant will, of course, perish if 
planted against an exposed south front wall. 

The groups in which I have arranged the woody 
plants that are of special interest to bird lovers need no 
further explanation. 

a. Species with Dense Foliage and Copious Branching. 
— Trees and other woody plants of this character offer 
good nesting places for many species ; they protect the 
fledglings from cats, crows, and hawks, and some of 
them also bear fruit, which is eaten by many birds. 
The following are suggested : — 

1. Norway Spruce and Native Spruces. 

2. Scotch Pine, Austrian Pine, and Native Pines. 

3. White Cedar and Red Cedar. N., S., W. 

4. White Elm. N., S. 

5. Wild Plums. N., S., M., W. 

6. Wild Haws. Cratcec/us. N., S., M., W. 

7. Mulberries. 

8. Choke Cherry and other wild cherries. N., S., 
JVL, W. 

9. Wild Hazel. N., S.. M., W. 

10. Virginia Creeper. N., S., M. 

11. Wild Grape Vines. N., S., M., W. 

12. Wild Clematis. N., S., M., W. 

13. Green-Brier. Smilax. N., S., M., W. 

14. False Bittersweet. Celastrus scandens. N., 
Southwest. 

15. Honeysuckle. Lonicera. N., S., M., W. 

16. Mock Orange. Philadelphia. Central, S., W. 



TREES, VINES, AND SHRUBS 25 

17. Meadow-Sweet. Spircea. N., S., M., W. 

18. Citrus Trifoliata. Hedge shrub not hardy north. 

19. Honey-Locust. G-leditschia. N., S. 

20. Moonseed. Menispermum. N., S. • 

b. Species Desirable on Account of their Fruit. 
aa. The following species produce fruit that ripens 
in summer or autumn, and attracts summer residents 
and early autumn migrants : — 

1. Wild Cherries. N., S., M., W. 

2. Wild Currants and Gooseberries. N., S., M., W. 

3. Juneberry or Shadbush. Amelanchier. N.,S., 
M., W. 

4. Wild Plums. N., S., M., W., 

5. Snowberry. Symphoricarpus. N., S., M., W. 

6. Dogwood. Cornus. N., S., M., W. 

7. Hackberry. Celtis. N., S., M. 

8. Elder. Sambucus. N., S., M., W. 

9. Viburnum. N., S., M., W. 
10. Mountain Ash. 

bb. The following species produce fruit that ripens 
late in autumn, remains on the twigs into or through 
the winter, and attracts late migrants, winter residents, 
and migrants on their northward journey in spring. 

1. Hackberry. Celtis. N., S., M. 

2. Mountain Ash. Sorbus. N., M., W. 

3. Red Cedar. Juniperus. N., S., M., W. 

4. Wild Haws. Crataegus. N., S., M., W. 

5. False Bittersweet. Celastrus scandens. N., 
Southwest. 



26 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



6. Burning-bush, or Walioo. Euonymus. L., N., 
S., M., W. 

7. Wild Rose. N., S., M., W. 

8. Moonseed. Menisperum. N., S. 

9. Virginia Creeper. N., S., M. 

10. Green-Brier. Smilax. N., S., M., W. 

11. Box-Elder. Female trees. N., S., M., W. 




Fig. 3. — Burning-bush. A Spray with Fruit as seen in Early 
Autumn. About One-half Natural Size. 

12. Sumach. N., S., M., W. 

13. Holly. Ibex. N., S. 

14. Wild Crab Apple. Malm. N., S. 

c. The Following Species Offer Both Fruit and Dense 
Foliage : — 

1. Honeysuckle. Lonicera. N., S., M., W. 

2. Chokecherry. N., S., M., W. 



TREES, VINES, AND SHKUBS 

3. Wild Plum. N., S., M., W. 

4. Wild Currant. N., S., M., W. 

5. Wild Grape Vines. N., S., M., W. 

6. Virginia Creeper. N., S., M., W. 

7. Elder. Sambucus. N., S., M., W. 



27 




Fig. 4. — Moonseed Twining on a Young Willow. About One- 
eighth Natural Size. 

8. Wild Gooseberries. Species with smooth fruit. 
N., S., M., W. 

Flowers for Hummingbirds. — These little gems of 
sunshine are a unique feature of American birclclom. 
In the summer of 1898 they were particularly numer- 



28 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

ous on the farms, in the towns and parks of southeast- 
ern Minnesota, and I also found them in the wild 
northeast corner of the state, where they flitted about 
among fireweeds and raspberries of the North Shore. 
While they are specially attracted by long-tubed flow- 
ers, they seem to visit nearly all flowers. The gladiolus 
is one of their favorite flowers ; a bed of them was 
almost the home of several that I observed last summer. 
I would therefore suggest that these beautiful, showy 
flowers be not omitted from gardens -where humming- 
birds are wanted. The little creatures, as far as I 
know, do not suffer from cats and are not encroached 
upon by the English sparrow, although I have seen a 
sparrow shoot at one in midair, probably mistaking it 
for a large insect. 

General Suggestions on Tree Planting for Birds. — In 
the numberless groves which now adorn our prairie 
states, birds are generally numerous and conspicuous 
during spring and early summer, May and June in this re- 
gion, but in Juty, when the dry season begins and when 
berries begin to ripen in the woods and copses, they dis- 
appear, as if suddenly spirited away. Plant some of the 
species referred to under and around your groves of box- 
elder, Cottonwood, soft maple, and willows, and provide 
the birds with one or more bathing and drinking foun- 
tains and many will stay in your groves all summer. 

On city lots, shrubs and vines should be placed along 
fences, and in unsightly corners ; they will beautify 
your property and attract the birds. 

Managers of parks and of large private properties 



ATTRACTING SONG BIRDS 29 

can attract hosts of birds if they have the matter 
brought to their attention. They generally employ 
skilled horticulturists, and they can have no difficulty 
in deciding what to plant. An interesting incident is 
told by Dr. W. Kobelt, of the Botanical Garden at 
Giessen, Germany : " Two ponds were separated by a 
dam, which served as a w^alk. This dam was cut out 
at both ends, thus making an island, which, during the 
summer time, was inaccessible to cats and bad boys. A 
few trees were already growing on the dam and all 
kinds of shrubs and vines, and a few conifers were 
planted in addition. A few large rocks and a pile of 
brush for wrens were also added and the bird island 
was left to itself and to the birds. It was not found 
necessary to advertise the island in the papers or to put 
up signs with " Nesting Places for Rent." The very 
first spring the islet was crowded with nests, and from 
the island the birds populated the neighboring gar- 
dens. Every kind of bird that nests at all in the 
vicinity of Giessen and in such places was found on 
this island." 

This incident shows how quickly the birds will make 
use of suitable nesting places. As most of our larger 
cities have parks with lakes and ponds in them, many 
of them could maintain such islands without any extra 
expense. The main point for consideration is that such 
islands furnish absolute protection against cats. The 
nests cannot be molested, nor can the young birds be 
destroyed while they hop about on the ground or sit on 
low bushes, unable to rise to higher and safer perches. 



30 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Let us have bird islands wherever conditions make it 
possible ! 

Almost every farmer and land owner possesses small 
areas which cannot be utilized for agricultural purposes. 
Plant these waste places with shrubs, trees, and vines 
suitable to the locality. Summer birds will nest in 
these isolated woods, and migrants and winter residents 
will gladly resort to them for food and protection. I 
have known a large flock of quails to make their home 
in a copse of small trees, shrubs, and dead flower stalks 
and grasses. This natural shelter extended a few 
hundred yards along a meandering prairie stream in 
Minnesota. The quails could not be driven out of it. 
If you want a place where your boy may hunt rabbits, 
he will find them in such waste-land shelter. 

Rural Schools and Nature. — If the windows and doors 
of many country schoolhouses did not so much suggest 
the structure in which the worthy Ichabod Crane offici- 
ated, a stranger would undoubtedly mistake these cor- 
ner shanties for township jails or some kind of penal 
sheds or almshouses. The dilapidated appearance of the 
jail and its desolate surroundings he might interpret as 
intended to accentuate the punishment of the culprit or 
to symbolize the lack of beauty and harmony in his 
mind and morals. I cannot imagine that, without see- 
ing the children, the teacher, or the school furniture, he 
could possibly hit upon the idea that these are the 
places where wealthy, intelligent, and practical com- 
munities compel their children to spend one-fifth of the 
waking hours of their youth, and that they would 



ATTRACTING SONG BIRDS 



31 



select such desolate shacks in which to teach the grow- 
ing generation to appreciate and admire the beautiful. 
As long as so little is done to make country life pleas- 
ant, the boys and girls do right to leave the farms. 




Fig. 5. — Twigs of Burning-bush in Fruit and Red Cedar. From 
a Water Color by H. Giehler. About One-third Natural Size. 



Every person who is interested in making rural life 
and rural schools what they ought to be should send for : 
Bulletin 160, " Hints on Rural School Grounds." By 
L. H. Bailey, Cornell University, Agricultural Ex- 



32 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

periment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. It is sent free to 
applicants. 

The bulletin is finely illustrated and gives explicit 
directions for planting trees, shrubbery, and flowers on 
school grounds. The suggestions given there can also 
be applied to rural homes, city homes, and city schools. 
If you follow out Professor Bailey's ideas, you will soon 
have trees, shrubs, flowers, and birds near your homes 
and schools, and they will become the beauty spots of 
the country. 1 

1 See an article on "School Gardens" in Appleton's Popular Science 
Monthly, February, 1898. Write to Agricultural Experiment Station, 
Fort Collins, Col., for "Notes on Birds of Colorado ; " to Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Orono, Maine, for two pamphlets, "Ornament- 
ing Home Grounds" and "Ornamental Plants for Maine ; " to Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, Lincoln, Neb., for "Ornamental Plant- 
ing" and "Methods of Tree Planting;" to U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, for "Forestry for Farmers." See 
also "The Winter Food of Chickadees" and "The Feeding Habits of 
the Chipping Sparrow," by Clarence M. Weed, Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station, Durham, N. H. 



CHAPTER II 

PROVIDE NESTING BOXES, AND DO NOT CUT DOWN 
EVERY HOLLOW TREE 

General Directions. — The best way to attract those 
birds that breed in hollow trees and in other cavities, 
is to allow old hollow trees to remain. Should a dead 
tree disfigure your place, plant wild grape vine, Vir- 
ginia creeper, or some other suitable climbing vine near 
it ; the vines will soon cover it, you keep the birds, and 
they are not compelled to go house hunting, which they 
like no better than men. 

Where no hollow trees and posts exist, we must help 
out by nesting boxes. Set your boys and girls to make 
these boxes and I must be much mistaken, if such work 
will not make them real and enthusiastic bird protectors. 
In most cases it will however be necessary that an older 
person direct the work and assist in it. By far the 
best material for bird boxes are sections of hollow 
trunks and limbs, having a cavity from 3 to 8 
inches in diameter. Boards and slabs with the bark 
are almost as good. Where such material is not obtain- 
able, use rough-sawed, weathered, one-inch boards. 
Bird boxes should not be made of new boards and 
should generally not be planed and painted. If you 
d 33 



34 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

have to take newly sawed lumber, rub the boards with 
moist earth. Limbs and trunks may, of course, be bored 
out, or they may be ripped first, then a cavity cut out, 
and the two halves screwed together again, but these 
boxes are likely to open along the joints unless very 
carefully made. Do not nail false bark on the boxes ; 
it is never quite tight and only harbors bird parasites. 
It is, however, advisable to fasten the bark on summer 
cut wood with small nails. On wood that was cut in 
late autumn or in winter, the bark adheres naturally. 
The wood of rough-barked deciduous trees is best for 
bird boxes, but any kind of wood may be used. 

The width of the entrance hole, the location of the 
box, and its height from the ground must receive 
careful attention. Birds do not like to approach their 
nests over wide open spaces. The old nesting material 
should not be removed from the boxes, the birds will 
attend to that themselves. The boxes must not be 
exposed to the noon and afternoon sun, and small 
openings should be left between top and cover to 
secure ventilation. 

It is absolutely necessary to fasten the boxes well. 
If they are shaky and are rattled by the wind, or if 
branches and twigs strike against them, the birds will 
not use them. The fastening may be done by means 
of strong wires, nails, or screws, the method depending 
somewhat on the value of the tree to which the box 
is to be fastened. 

Some of the best European observers advocate sur- 
rounding the boxes of titmice and wrens with thorns. 



PROVIDE NESTING BOXES 35 

Twigs of our wild haws and plums will answer this 
purpose. They should be securely nailed, screwed, 
or otherwise fastened so as to protect the entrance 
holes against cats, crows, squirrels, jays, and shrikes. 
It would pay to find by experiment how our titmice, 
bluebirds, wrens, and nuthatches take to boxes thus 
protected. 

A pair of house wrens nested for several years in a 
box which I had nailed to a thin, peeled pole, about 12 
feet from the ground and placed near young trees 
about 20 feet high. The pole was too thin and too 
smooth for the cats. 

Another good way to protect the boxes from cats is 
to surround the tree about 5 feet from the ground, or 
just below the branches, with several coils of some kind 
of barbed wire about 2 feet wide. The closer the 
barbs are placed, the more effective is the protection. 
Take two narrow pieces of board or lath, tack them, 
one above the other, to the tree by their upper ends ; 
then nail the end of the barbed wire to the tree with 
a steeple tack. Wind the wire around the tree and 
boards as shown in the figure, and fasten the lower 
end of the wire to the last coils. Next fasten the 
barbed wire coil to the lower branches by means of 
a smooth wire, then draw the nail holding the laths 
and pull out the laths. In this way we procure 
elastic barb wire coils, which may remain on the 
tree for a number of years without hindering its 
growth. 

The entrance holes should be turned away from the 



86 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



prevailing rain storms. On buildings, the east side 
is the most desirable, but the north side will also do, 
if protected by an overhanging roof. The south and 

west sides are likely to 
be too hot unless they 
are shaded. No box 
will be occupied that 
is readily accessible to 
cats. 

Special Directions. — 
Measurements are given 
in inches unless other- 
wise stated. 

1. Titmice, Chicka- 
dees, and Wrens. — In- 
side measurement of box 
about 7x5x5, place 
it against out-buildings 
or on trunks and limbs 
of trees from 6 to 12 
feet high. Size of en- 
trance about 1\ inches 
in the middle of the board, a little widened both toward 
the inside and the outside. Nail a little last \ an inch 
below the entrance. If the hole is too large the English 
sparrows will move in, if too small you are likely to have 
wasps or bees as your renters. The birds referred to 
will not nest near the gathering places of English spar- 
rows. I have observed the house wren build in a box 
that had the entrance in one of the lower corners with 




Fig. 6.- 



-Tree Trunk with Barb 
Wire Coils. 



PROVIDE NESTING BOXES 37 

the bottom board projecting a few inches and forming 
a platform. 

2. Nuthatches and Creepers. — Inside measure of box 
about 20 x 6 x 6, place it on trees from 12 to 25 feet 
above the ground, rough inside and outside, no perch on 
the outside, entrance from \\ to 2 inches in diameter. 

3. Woodpeckers. — Quite a few of these birds are 
likely to avail themselves of nesting boxes, if made of 
hollow trunks and limbs or of wood with the natural 
bark on it. The boxes may be from 10 x 5 x 5 to 
36 x 7 x 7 inside measure, the entrance from 2 to 4 
inches in diameter. Place the boxes on trees from 10 
to 25 feet high, supply no perches and no thorns. I 
have found the flicker's nest 4 feet from the ground 
in an old cottonwood tree, in a cavity only about a foot 
deep ; and with an entrance large enough for any man's 
fist. This nest was in a prairie grove, where the cotton- 
wood was the only hollow tree. A pair of red-headed 
woodpeckers once built their nest in a telegraph pole 
on a much-frequented street in St. Paul, Minn. The 
children from one of the public schools passed there 
every day. Some boys climbed to the entrance repeat- 
edly, but the nest was too deep to be reached, and in 
due time the young appeared on the neighboring house- 
tops. The best way to attract woodpeckers is to spare 
old and hollow trees. 

4. Bluebirds. — Boxes of about 10 x 6 x 6 inside 
measure, fastened to trees or posts near shrubs and 
brush, from 6 to 15 feet above the ground, entrance 
from 2 to 2J inches in diameter. Mr. J. W. Taylor of 



38 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

St. Paul, Minn., has had bluebirds nesting in boxes, 
which he had painted a dark green so as to harmonize 
with the foliage of oaks. 

5. Flycatchers. — Those that live near dwellings fre- 
quently build on the window caps, if they are protected 
by an overhanging roof. The favorite nesting places 
for the phoebe are the beams of bridges. The boys can 
do the birds a favor by nailing strips of laths or pieces 
of boards horizontally to the beams. A little shelf 
thus constructed under a projecting roof is also readily 
used. Near the nest must be a convenient perch from 
where the birds can watch for flying insects, which they 
can do from wires, posts, dead branches, and small dead 
trees. 

6. Swalloivs. — Nail bracket shelves to any conven- 
ient beams and rafters in machine sheds, corn-bins, hay- 
lofts, and barns. The boards used may be from two to 
four inches wide. Sheltered places on the outside of 
buildings are also good ; out-buildings should have 
openings for the birds. 

7. The Purple Martin. — This bird will nest in 
almost any box of the right size in the right place, it 
will even use boxes of planed and painted boards. 
The inside measure should be about 10 x 8 x 8, the 
entrance about 2J inches in diameter near the top and 
should have no perches. They seem to like a martin 
house consisting of several apartments. The house 
may be fixed on a stout post or on the top of a building. 

8. The Small Owls. — The barn owl, long-eared owl, 
barred owl, short-eared owl, and screech owl are bene- 



PROVIDE NESTING BOXES 39 

ficial and should be protected. If farm buildings 
have sufficiently large openings, the barn owl will enter 
and look after the mice. I suggest that experiments be 
made with nesting boxes for them. The boxes should 
vary in size from 16 x 12 x 12 to 18 x 11 x 14. Use 
some with large side opening and leave the others en- 
tirely open at the top and observe the results. The 
boxes should be fastened in crotches of trees. Bore a 
few small holes into the bottom of the open boxes, so 
that rain water will not accumulate in them. 

9. The Wood Duck. — This most beautiful and inter- 
esting of all ducks has much decreased in Minnesota, 
and no doubt in all settled districts. Even where the 
lakes still ripple and plash in the June breeze, its 
natural homes, the old and hollow trees, are gone. The 
farmers have cut them for fuel, or some individual, who 
styles himself hunter or trapper, has burned and cut the 
hoary sires of the primeval forest, because a poor squir- 
rel, or a cottontail, or even a coon had taken refuge in 
them. 

Boxes having the natural bark on them, will un- 
doubtedly attract the wood duck. Make the boxes about 
21 x 16 x 16 to 36 x 18 x 18. They may be provided 
with side openings of 1 to 5 inches diameter, or the top 
may be left open. According to Masefield, an English 
writer, such boxes have long been used in Lapland. 
Place the boxes on trees in well-wooded places near 
rivers and lakes. Wood ducks frequently build in 
convenient crotches and on stumps. I would, therefore, 
suggest that some very shallow boxes be also used. 



40 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

The so-callecl ox-bows, or old river channel, are the 
favorite waters of the wood duck. 

Concluding Remarks. — I hope that my readers, 
especially our boys and girls, will experiment with 
nesting boxes for birds, so that we soon may have 
more definite knowledge on the subject. The pleasure 
derived from such work is a rich reward for it. 

Every bird lover should make good use of his experi- 
ences. Some birds, like our purple martin and the 
European starling, have become accustomed to use 
nesting boxes, but most of our native birds have yet to 
learn to live in the " white man's houses." We must, 
therefore, not lose patience if our boxes are not at once 
occupied, but must continue to observe and experiment. 

Magazines like Bird Lore, The Auk, and others will 
be glad to publish the experience of bird lovers. I 
have consulted the following publications and refer my 
readers to them : — 

1. Masefield, Wild Bird Protection and Nesting Boxes, Taylor 

Bros., Leeds, England. 

2. Liebe, Nistkasten flir Vogel. Theo. Hoffmann, Gera, Germany, 

One of the best treatises on the subject. 

3. Kobelt, Schutz den Vogeln. Bechtold & Co., Wiesbaden, Ger- 

many. 

4. Voigt, Unsere niitzlichen Gartenvogel. Theo. Voigt, Gernrode 

am Harz, Germany. 

5. L. H. Bailey, The Birds and I. College of Agriculture, Cornell 

University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

The first costs about 50c, the other three are pamph- 
lets which can be had for about 15c. each. No. 5 is 



PROVIDE NESTING BOXES 41 

very good for boys and girls, because it contains num- 
erous drawings of nesting boxes. It is sent free to 
applicants. 

I shall be very glad to receive suggestions and 
criticism from those who experiment with nesting 
boxes. 



CHAPTER III 

PROVIDE DRINKING AND BATHING FOUNTAINS 

It seems that the question of water supply has received 
little attention in the study of birds. The sudden dis- 
appearance of birds from our Western prairie groves 
in July has already been referred to. I have observed 
several species of birds eagerly drinking the water that 
had leaked through the cattle trough; a yellow warbler 
was seen to drink out of a cup placed on the top of 
a pump, and in one very dry summer a great bittern 
looking for water came to a pump only a few feet from 
the farmhouse. During the same part of the sum- 
mer all kinds of birds were abundant in the small 
prairie town of Litchfield, Minn., where the conditions 
for nesting, roosting, food, and shelter were not better 
than on the farms ; but the town has water- works, 
lawns and gardens were freely sprinkled and I often 
observed the birds drinking on the lawns, spluttering 
in the pools, or taking shower baths in the spray. 

One December day I came upon a chickadee that had 
just taken a bath in a stream, when the temperature of 
the air was about 25° F. The stream w^as covered with 
ice and snow, except where a swift current had kept it 
open. At another time, when the temperature of the 
air was zero or below, I saw a number of house spar- 

42 



PROVIDE DRINKING AND BATHING FOUNTAINS 43 

rows drink from an open spring. During the cold 
weather of February, 1899, a flock of evening grosbeaks 
remained for weeks near an open place of the Minnesota 
River. I saw the birds feed on the box-elder seeds 
several times, but never saw them drink. On March 
4th, 1899, I saw through the window about eight feet 
from the point of observation, a small flock of those 
birds eat the wet, thawing snow in a sunny corner on 
the roof of my house. This was about 8:30 in the 
morning, when the snow on the ground was not at all 
thawing. The nearest open water was about two miles 
away. Frequently I have observed house sparrows 
bathing in snow water whose temperature was just 
above freezing. 

All animals must have water, unless they find enough 
of it in their food. Flesh-eating and insect-eating 
birds may find enough of it in their food, seed-eaters 
may fly some distance to find it or they may strip the 
dew off the grass ; in the winter, they drink at springs 
or at other open places, or eat snow, but there can be 
little doubt that they prefer water to snow. 

Construction of the Bathing and Drinking Basin. — The 
best bathing and drinking place is a bank of sand or 
gravel to which the water is supplied by a spring or 
running stream. It should have a sloping bottom, 
making the water from ^ to 3 inches deep. It should 
be close to shrubs and trees, thus affording ready shelter 
against birds of prey, but there should be no hiding 
place for cats near by. 

Where such natural basins cannot be furnished, dis 



44 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

tribute a number of large flower pot saucers in the 
garden and in the groves. No bird basin should be 
glazed. If you wish a larger basin, construct one of 
wood or of corrugated tin about 2x3 feet, and 3 
inches deep in the middle. Nail thin laths to the in- 
side of the wooden basin about 2 inches apart. Stand 
these basins in a suitable excavation, or place a stone 
or small block of wood under each corner to make them 
stand firm, or a small support may be fixed below each 
corner. The water in such saucers and basins should 
be renewed every evening about sunset or early in the 
morning. From time to time they must be thoroughly 
cleaned. Boys and girls have plenty of time to attend 
to these basins, which in dry weather should be set out 
as soon as the birds arrive in spring. This is as nec- 
essary in cities as in the country, because we often have 
several weeks of dry weather during which the birds 
arrive and when lawn sprinklers are not yet used. 

A German writer, Otto Voigt, recommends floating 
basins for tanks, ponds, large park basins, and streams 
that offer no suitable sand or gravel banks. Such a 
floating basin is constructed of willow, roots, or twigs ; 
its margin projects above the water and the depth of 
the water is regulated by cork or wood floats attached 
so as to make it from 1 to 3 inches deep. Common 
plasterers' laths or old wash baskets will serve well for 
the construction of such floating basins. They should 
be anchored near protecting trees or shrubs. From 
time to time they must be cleaned of slime and algae. 
Artificial bird basins cannot be well used in very 



PROVIDE DRINKING AND BATHING FOUNTAINS 45 

severe winter weather, but the natural basins will 
certainly prove a great attraction for winter birds as 
well as for summer residents. The common iron or 




Fig. 7. — A Floating Bird Basin. 



cement fountains and basins found in gardens and 
parks attract but few birds, because their sides are 
generally steep and slippery, and the water is too 
deep. 



CHAPTER IV 

FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER AND IN UNFAVORABLE 
WEATHER AT OTHER SEASONS 

The greater part of this chapter has been kindly con- 
tributed by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Davenport of Brattleboro, 
Vt., who has had much experience in feeding birds. 
I hope that especially many boys and girls will follow 
her precept and example. 

" The first thing in feeding birds is to consider the 
environment, and consequently what species are to be 
first invited. My surroundings are an apple orchard, 
with groves of conifers not far off, and much lawn and 
garden space. But we are only a hundred feet or so 
from a main street in a closely settled village. 

" I put split bones in which the marrow is accessible 
and other bones with some suet upon the apple tree 
boughs, and also nailed large pieces of suet upon per- 
pendicular trunks. Chickadees, nuthatches, and downy 
woodpeckers found them almost immediately. A box 
open only on one side, and the closed side turned 
toward the prevailing wind was fastened to the trunk 
of a tree some twenty-five feet from the house. An 
additional board on the top projected several inches to 
give still further protection. In this box I put cracked 
corn and broken bread. A shelf at a near-by window 

46 



FEEDING BIRDS IX WINTER 47 

contained suet and hemp seed, and a basket hung from 
another window contained only hemp seed. It was 
but a question of a few weeks before the above named 
birds came as freely to the windows as to the trees, and 
the blue jays were added to the flock. The following 
summer I kept the suet replenished constantly, and 
such of these birds as nested in the vicinity first carried 
it away to their mates and young, and then brought 
the little broods for nearer feeding. I think the first 
nest bird was the purple finch, which came early one 
March, evidently attracted by the presence of those 
already feeding. I value him greatly as a decoy, for 
he comes so early and remains till November, is here in 
great numbers and so continuously that other birds 
follow him, and so I have many migrants which would 
otherwise not be called in. During the season of 
migration I keep hemp seed and seeds of maple and 
ash scattered at some distance from the house, to lure 
the stragglers to drop down. If we have a crust on 
the snow in winter, I take advantage of this also. 

" In the winter when my flock was largest it numbered, 
besides those already mentioned, the hairy woodpecker, 
the American creeper, the pine siskins, redpolls, pine 
grosbeaks and slate-colored juncoes. Under stress 
of weather, a crow and a screech owl also came 
down, and over forty tree sparrows formed a part of 
the flock from November till April. As the winter 
passed and the migrants came, the white-throated and 
white-crowned sparrows, and fox sparrows, juncoes, 
and red-breasted nuthatches stopped by the way, and 



48 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

then summer residents reenforced the ranks thinned by 
the onward passage of the migrants. Both quail and 
ruffed grouse have come to feed in places where food 
has been placed for them in suitable places by other 
residents of this town. What I have just related refers 
to the winter of 1895 and 1896, before the English 
sparrow^ invaded my premises. Since that time the 
birds have decreased in number, but not in species, 
because of necessarily changed conditions, for I have 
been obliged to deal with that disconcerting factor in 
some measure ever since the above date. 

" I Avili not particularize the different food for differ- 
ent birds, but say generally, those living largely upon 
larvae of insects all take the suet. The pine grosbeaks 
would never eat anything but seeds of maple and ash, 
often digging them from the frozen ground. The 
purple finches preferred to everything else the hemp 
seed; next, the sunflower seed. 1 The other seed-eaters 
will take corn, suet, nuts, and bread. In the summer 
much soaked bread is carried and fed to young, and 
the robins and orioles, song sparrows, and chipping 
sparrows are fond of it. Wheat bread grows so hard 
when frozen that in winter I use bread made of two- 
thirds corn meal and one-third wheat. This crumbles 
so fine that freezing makes less difference. But all 
prefer the wheat bread. 

" When we have a thaw in winter my flock disperses 

1 1 have observed large flocks of purple finches feed on the seeds of 
burdock in spring. The birds picked the seeds from the ground and 
stayed from one to two weeks in the same locality. — [Author. 



FEEDING BIKDS IN WINTER 49 

or becomes smaller, but previous to a storm and in 
stress of weather the birds are about continually. I 
began this work from love of the companionship of 
these feathered friends, but the opportunities for study 
are more than one would think at first. All the per- 
sonality and individuality of the birds are marked, 
and through having them at this short range, their man- 
ner of handling food, changes of plumage, the bearing 
of one species to other species, and of individuals of 
the same species to each other, open up many lines of 
inquiry. After once learning to take food provided 
for them, the birds will come anywhere for it, to win- 
dows on upper stories, to windows under deep piazzas, 
or into the house, if offered near the windows. They 
sit by the half hour, if their kind permit, on the bas- 
kets or boxes, and never with an expectant eye indoors 
from fear. They literally take possession of the places 
provided, and make you feel an intruder if you inter- 
fere with their wishes. 

" Of the experiences with individual birds which grew 
to be on really companionable terms with us I cannot 
write, but there are memories among them not to be 
forgotten. That the same individuals among the mi- 
grants often return, I could demonstrate if space per- 
mitted. 

" Should one care to get on specially familiar terms 
with the birds fed, I would suggest feeding at regular 
intervals of time, which they would soon recognize. 
It has always been my custom to have food in abun- 
dance out at night for the early comers ; but when a 



50 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

snow storm had covered it, I always went out early, just 
at dawn, and found that the tree sparrows, always the 
earliest risers, would know me almost immediately, and 
come up through the orchard. It was a beautiful sight 
as they flitted leisurely from tree to tree, nearer and 
nearer, with gentle call notes, dropping down one 
by one at first, then more and more rapidly, till the 
whole flock were close about my feet. This was the 
only time in the day when they fed quietly. The first 
edge of hunger off, and it was a panorama of flashing 
wings pursuing and pursued, and all the time their 
musical notes of protest and aggression filling the air, 
for they are birds who have no notes but those of music. 
In February, at sunrise, they would begin to sing softly ; 
by the middle of March the orchard was jubilant. 

" As I write, a pair of nuthatches are at the window, 
softly talking to each other ; chickadees come and go, 
carrying the hemp seeds to the apple boughs, where 
they deftly manipulate them with their toes while they 
quickly penetrate the husk and take out the living 
germ, much more quickly than I can write of it ; the 
tree sparrows are rolling these same hemp seeds be- 
tween tongue and bill till the husk falls, opening by its 
suture ; and a hairy woodpecker within four feet of 
me is striking vigorous blows at the suet near by. 

" And now for that vexed question of the English 
sparrow ! As one lad put it, ' What do you do, Mrs. 
Davenport, when the English sparrow gets mixed in?' 
Let me preface my own experience with this intruder 
by an observation. This bird is especially addicted to 



FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER 51 

locality ; a flock feeding over certain circumscribed 
territory, and rarely beyond it, but breaking up into 
detachments and moving on, only when the original 
flock has grown too large for the food there to be ob- 
tained. In cities, I have known one flock to frequent 
the back yards of a block, and never mix with that on 
the other side of the block. A friend here has a large, 
annoying flock in the grounds in front of her house, 
yet feeds the birds at the back a few hundred feet 
away, and on the south side, and yet not one English 
sparrow has troubled her. Should they by accident 
discover her food, I think her battle will be imminent. 
It w^as a number of years before they discovered me. 
At first I kept them away by persistent driving. I 
would whip the trees and send them all away, out of 
the orchard. After a week or two, that answered for 
the season, unless a hard storm came on. But I made 
a business of it, did not drive one day or one hour and 
then relax my vigilance, but kept up a continuous war- 
fare. Unfortunately my neighbors on either side per- 
mitted them to nest on their premises, and my troubles 
became multiplied many times. The winter following 
I made a compromise with them, — I kept cracked corn 
at some distance from the windows in boxes on the 
trees and on the ground. In the spring I could not 
keep anything on the ground for the migrants ; it was 
devoured immediately, and I saw that I must either 
dispose of the sparrows or curtail my feeding area and 
so lessen my flock. I chose the latter, and brought the 
food to the windows and there watched it, not letting 



52 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

even one sparrow alight, and always driving them from 
the trees when I could. For two years this has worked 
well, but what any season may bring forth, I cannot 
tell. I find, too, that suet put on the under side of 
boughs which incline about forty-five degrees, provid- 
ing the bough be a good-sized one, is safe from this 
bird, while any other can easily get it. 

" One of my friends shot two last spring, and the flock 
left till this winter. Then she shot a third, and they 
have not returned. 

"Pans of water for bathing and drinking are always 
near the house, and I cannot advocate too strongly 
their use to the bird lover. I use dripping-pans painted 
inside and outside to protect them from rust. They 
are about the right depth. To these I owe a glimpse 
of many a rare warbler, and I think many a bird comes 
to them first and then follows the other feeding birds. 
I might fill a small book with the beautiful and inter- 
esting sights common there. The birds bathe even 
after the water freezes at night. In the fall I have 
counted over fifty robins within three hours, enjoying 
to the full this chance for a bath, and that as I would 
come and go by the windows. There is one more dis- 
cordant note to be struck — the cat, and worst of all, 
the neighbor's cat. The tramp cat might be and should 
be eliminated. I think if we could have a license law 
for cats as well as for dogs, this nuisance could be much 
abated, but the neighbor's cat must be respected even 
if he does commit depredations. One friend prevailed 
on his neighbors to bell their cats, and so the birds had 



FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER 53 

some warning. But to draw birds about the low win- 
dows, where they soon grow so unsuspecting and so 
occupied with feeding and each other, is to draw them 
into a sure trap unless protection is offered. A high 
woven Avire can enclose a space about the windows 
effectively. No amount of vigilance will outwit a cat. 
Early and late I find them lying in hiding, and they 
will spring upon the window-sill and take off a bird, 
if they can only approach close to the edge of the 
house. 

" In this as in all other things, the measure of success 
will depend upon the attention given to it, and how 
much of one's real self goes into it. Cared for to-day 
and neglected to-morrow, failure will follow. Food 
may be furnished and birds be present, and little joy 
flow to the giver. But with a heart filled with a love 
for the life all about one and a desire to solve such 
questions as spontaneously accompany nature work, I 
know of no other pursuit that brings richer rewards. 
There is no side of our character which will not grow 
finer, more tender, more reverent from the effort at a 
closer living to nature's heart, a sympathetic study of 
her work all about us." 

Mrs. Davenport's description refers to feeding birds 
in gardens and on lawns in a small town, and the fol- 
lowing species have been identified by her in and near 
her orchard : — 

300. Ruffed Grouse. 360. American Sparrow-Hawk. 

332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 373. Screech Owl. 

333. Cooper's Hawk. 387. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



54 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



388. 


Black-billed Cuckoo. 


587. 


393. 


Hairy Woodpecker. 


595. 


394. 


Downy Woodpecker. 


598. 


402. 


Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 


608. 


412. 


Flicker. 


611. 


417. 


Whippoorwill. 


619. 


420. 


Nighthawk. 


621. 


423. 


Chimney Swift. 


624. 


428. 


Ruby-throated Hum- 


627. 




mingbird. 


628. 


444. 


Kingbird. 


629. 


456. 


Phoebe. 


636. 


461. 


Wood Pew r ee. 


645. 


467. 


Least Flycatcher. 


646. 


477. 


Blue Jay. 


648. 


488. 


American Crow. 


652. 


495. 


Cowbird. 


655. 


507. 


Baltimore Oriole. 


657. 


509. 


Rusty Blackbird. 


659. 


511. 


Purple Grackle. 


661. 


5116. 


Bronzed Grackle. 


662. 


515. 


Pine Grosbeak. 


667. 


517. 


Purple Finch. 




521. 


American Crossbill. 


672. 


528. 


Redpoll. 


674. 


529. 


American Goldfinch. 


675. 


533. 


Pine Siskin. 


681. 


540. 


Vesper Sparrow 7 . 


685. 


554. 


White-crowned Sparrow. 


687. 


558. 


White-throated Sparrow. 


704. 


559. 


Tree Sparrow. 


705. 


560. 


Chipping Sparrow. 


721. 


567. 


Slate-colored Junco. 


726. 


581. 


Song Sparrow. 


727. 


585. 


Fox Sparrow. 


728. 



Towhee. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
Indigo Bunting. 
Scarlet Tanager. 
Purple Martin. 
Cedar Waxwing. 
Northern. Shrike. 
Red-eyed Vireo. 
Warbling Vireo. 
Yellow-throated Vireo. 
Blue-headed Vireo. 
Black and White Warbler. 
Nashville Warbler. 
Orange-crowned Warbler. 
Parula Warbler. 
Yellow W r arbler. 
Myrtle Warbler. 
Magnolia Warbler. 
Chestnut-sided Warbler. 
Black-poll Warbler. 
Blackburnian Warbler. 
Black-throated Green War- 
bler. 
Palm Warbler. 
Oven-bird. 
Water Thrush. 
Maryland Yellow T -throat. 
Wilson's Warbler. 
American Redstart. 
Catbird. 

Brown Thrasher. 
House Wren. 
Brown Creeper. 
White-breasted Nuthatch. 
Red-breasted Nuthatch. 



FEEDING BIRDS IX WINTER 55 

735, Chickadee. 756. Wilson's Thrush. 

748. Golden-crowned Kinglet. 758a. Olive-backed Thrush. 

r±9. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 7(31. American Robin. 

755. Wood Thrush. 760. Bluebird. 

The numbers refer to the second edition of the Check-List of 
North American Birds published by the American Ornithologists' 
Union. 

The only frequent winter visitors I have in St. Paul, 
on a somewhat crowded residence street, are chickadees, 
downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, blue jays, and Eng- 
lish sparrows. A few days ago, however, a flock of 
evening grosbeaks ate the seeds on the only seed- 
bearing box-elder I have on the lot. The number of 
birds you can attract is largely governed by the local- 
ity and surroundings. In the middle and southern 
states regular feeding will probably attract a greater 
number of species than can be attracted in the 
northern states and in Canada. The best feeding 
places are those that have several bird roads leading to 
them. Fringes of brush and timber along streams and 
lakes, street trees, and hedges are such bird roads. 
Feeding places should not be disturbed by cats, dogs, 
noise of factories, etc. A uniform, continuous noise 
disturbs the birds less than an intermittent noise, and 
people passing at some distance annoy them much less 
than people stopping. In the autumn collect the heads 
of cultivated and wild sunflowers, just before the seed 
begins to drop, also collect hemp and ragweeds, the 
seeds of maple, ash, box-elder, birches, and other trees. 
The stalks of sunflowers, hemp, and other plants stuck 



56 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

into the snow are eagerly sought by the birds and afford 
much pleasure to the observer. All seeds collected in 
the autumn must be stored in some place where mice 
and rats cannot get at them, or not a kernel will be left. 
Weeds of all kinds must not be collected too late, or the 
birds will have eaten the seeds that have not dropped 
to the ground. Pieces of fat and suet nailed to boughs 
should not be too large, otherwise the birds will grease 
their wings with them in warm weather and with 
greased wings they cannot fly well. No salted meat 
should be fed. If your children do not know what to 
do on a long winter evening, let them make strings of 
the seeds of cucumbers, melons, squash, and pumpkins. 
Throw these strings into the trees and watch the fun, 
when the birds discover them. 

Another interesting device for feeding and observing 
birds can be arranged as follows : Fasten a small ever- 
green or a branch of some other tree near a convenient 
window, preferably in the second story, as that is safe 
from cats. Tie bits of raw, unsalted meat, suet, split 
walnuts, and other nuts to your tree. If you bore a 
hole into the shell, the split nut can be firmly sus- 
pended by a string. After the kernel has been eaten 
out, the shell may be filled with suet. On such trees 
and branches chickadees and other birds will give pretty 
gymnastic performances. Nearly all seed-eating birds 
are fond of greens. They eat young herbs and tender 
young grass just like the domestic chickens. I have 
seen the slate-colored juncoes feast on a pasture of very 
young knotgrass or doorweed, Polygonum aviculare, 




Fig. 8. — The Birds' Christmas Tree. 



58 OUK NATIVE BIRDS 

and in early spring I have seen the English sparrows 
feed on the first grass that was uncovered by the melting 
of the snow. If yon children wish to prepare a special 
Christmas treat for the birds, sow some grain or grass 
in boxes in late autumn. Chop the young grass or 
grain quite fine, place it in the usual feeding place, 
and see how the birds like it. It may be that some of 
them will also eat chopped cabbage and kale. 

If you feed the birds at all, be sure you do not for- 
get them in sudden and severe snow storms. They 
must sleep on trees or in holes, while you are tucked 
away in your warm bed. The cold makes them very 
hungry, but often all their food is covered up and they 
cannot fly to other regions while the storm lasts. 
Birds do not easily die of cold alone, but they starve 
in a very short time. Sometimes the trees, the weeds, 
and the ground become coated with ice. Such weather 
makes a skating-park of the whole town, but it means 
starvation to many birds unless you feed them. 

Special Feedixg-places for Different Groups 

of Birds 

i. Elevated Boards. — Nail lasts around the edge of 
a board of convenient size, then nail the board hori- 
zontally to some suitable branches. Feed seeds of sun- 
flower, pumpkin, hemp, timothy, seed from the hay 
loft, bits of cracked nuts, mast, bits of cooked or raw 
meat not too salt, suet, etc. 

2. Field Places. — The food is placed on the ground. 



FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER 59 

The location should be near some trees or timber. 
Place several rows of poles in the ground radiating 
from the feeding place. Tie a few weeds, sunflower 
heads, thistle heads, a loose handful of hay or straw to 
the poles. These poles serve as finger posts to the 
birds. Feed seed from the hay loft, waste and small 
grain, cracked corn, etc. 

3. Carrion Places. — A German writer, K. T. Liebe, 
advises that spoiled meat, entrails, butchers' offal, and 
any kind of dead animal be placed on the ground on 
open heights at considerable distances from farms, 
houses, and villages. According to numerous reports 
such food has served to protect partridges and small 
birds from the depredations of hawks, crows, ravens, 
jays, and magpies. It has also offered good opportuni- 
ties for decimating species that had become too numer- 
ous and for procuring rare specimens. Having made 
no observations on this point, I do not venture to say 
what benefit or injury may result, but should be very 
glad to hear from those who may try this plan. 

4. Feeding Prairie-Chickens, Ruffed Grouse or Par- 
tridge, and Quail. — In severe winters with heavy 
snowfall, quail and grouse sometimes die by the hun- 
dred, especially in the prairie states. Quails, if not 
molested, become very tame, and a good place to feed 
them is under the corn bin or under some similar 
shelter, where no cat can spring upon them. I have 
seen large flocks of them under the corn bin near a 
farmhouse. Prairie-chickens are much wilder. They 
will naturally come to a place where some shocks of 



60 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



corn, cornstalks, or uncut corn are left on the field. 
If the place is sheltered from prevailing winds and 
near some brush and timber, it will prove a very 




Fig. 9. — A Feeding House for Birds. 



FEEDING BIRDS IX WINTER 61 

attractive feeding ground. The ruffed grouse will 
most likely frequent it also. Feed all kinds of wheat 
and grain cleanings, light grain, cracked corn, sun- 
flower seed, seed from hay lofts, and any kind of rather 
large seed. From time to time, a little unsalted chopped 
boiled meat may be given. The birds will probably 
appreciate chopped cabbage leaves and kale, when they 
cannot get any grass or greens. This is a matter in 
which not only bird lovers but particularly sportsmen 
are interested. As these birds flock together in the 
winter, it would be an easy matter to help a whole flock 
through severe weather and keep a whole township 
well stocked. A few years ago an early winter sur- 
prised the farmers of southern Minnesota and much 
corn was left unhusked. Flocks of prairie-chickens, 
numbering hundreds of individuals, soon gathered on 
these fields and staid near them all winter. 

5. Feeding Birds in Public Parks. — Nothing special 
need be said under this heading. The person wishing 
to undertake the work can get information from the 
preceding pages. I hope that many public parks may 
systematically take up the work of bird protection. It 
seems to me that our Agricultural Experiment Stations, 
most of which are very favorably situated and are 
equipped with intelligent workers, could do good work 
along this line. Through them, reliable and specific 
information on the subject could be gathered for all 
sections of the country. 



CHAPTER V 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Nesting Material, Dust Baths, Gravel, and Lime. — In 

city parks and on city lots it may frequently be 
desirable to provide nesting material besides nesting 
places. While our towns at large are mostly painfully 
dirty, certain streets, parks, and lots are kept clean. 
In such places the birds will readily make use of horse 
hairs from old mattresses, bits of threads, rags, tufts 
of wool, cotton, flax, pieces of hay, straw, and other 
similar material. A Baltimore oriole that was in need 
of material for nest building tried hard to pull his supply 
of strings out of a minnow net, which lay only a few feet 
from a boat-house. When some strings were placed on 
the ground, he used them at once. The same bird re- 
paired his nest, after a storm had badly damaged it. 

Many birds like to take a dust bath even in winter. 
Common road dust or pulverized garden soil is good 
for such use, and a supply of it should be provided 
before the ground freezes at the beginning of winter. 
Set shallow dust receptacles to their rim into the 
ground in sunny places, protected like drinking foun- 
tains. All gallinaceous birds are fond of dust baths. 
I have also seen the brown thrush enjoy one, and have 
repeatedly observed the house sparrows trying to bathe 
in dust on dry ground that was frozen hard and solid. 

62 



MISCELLANEOUS 63 

111 wild and unsettled districts I have often found the 
dust baths of native sparrows in dry, sunny places on 
old unused lumber roads. 

Nearly all birds, excepting, I believe, the birds of 
prey, swallow pieces of gravel or grit. Aquatic birds, 
shore birds, and seed-eaters are evidently most in need 
of it. I have seen the house sparrow pick gravel from 
the ice and snow on city sidewalks, when the tempera- 
ture was about zero, and once on a warm August 
evening I observed a flock of about three hundred 
blackbirds picking up a dessert of gravel after they 
had returned from their field feeding grounds and just 
before they retired to roost in the rushes. Some gravel 
should, therefore, be placed near all feeding places. 

The egg shells of birds consist of lime which the 
birds take into their bodies with food or water. In 
the egg-laying season the body's demand for lime is 
so great that domestic birds will eat bits of marble, 
limestone, crushed oyster and clam shells, and the 
shells of their own eggs. It is quite likely that wild 
birds also need an extra amount of lime in spring, and 
I would suggest that it be scattered in bits as large as 
ground coffee near their feeding places. Crushed 
burnt bones and crushed egg shells will probably 
answer the purpose very well, and can be prepared 
by ever)d)ody. 

See : Liebe. Futterplatze fur Yogel im Winter. Theodore Hoff- 
mann, Gera, Germany. 
Borqgreve. Die Vogelschutzfrage. Hugo Voigt, Leipsic, 
Germany. 



CHAPTER VI 

PROTECTING THE BIRDS FROM THEIR NATURAL 
ENEMIES 

Cats. — The foremost place among all song bird 
destroyers must, as we have already said, be assigned 
to the house cat, this half-wild beast of the woods that 
climbs roofs as well as trees and never learns to dis- 
tinguish between birds and mice. 

The most injurious cat in country districts is the 
feralized cat, one that has returned to a wild life in the 
woods. This creature lives on mice, gophers, birds, 
and eggs. Young birds and eggs are, however, much 
easier to catch than gophers and mice, and therefore 
he lives largely on birds and eggs during the summer 
months. Ground birds naturally suffer most by their 
destructiveness. These cats should be shot, trapped, 
or poisoned by every lover of birds and by every 
sportsman. Some of them come to farmhouses in 
very severe weather. Such occasions afford a good 
opportunity to the farmer boy for the use of his gun. 
I have heard of a pair of such feralized cats living in a 
skunk hole during the severe winter of 1898-99. 

In town, city, and country, we have the tramp cat, 
which goes from farm to farm, or from house to house, 

64 



ENEMIES OF BI11DS 65 

as its inclination dictates. Any method to eliminate 
these tramps, as Mrs. Davenport puts it, is perfectly 
proper. All cats habitually prowling about in fields, 
woods, and parks, should be killed. They are nefari- 
ous bird slayers, that use human habitations as the 
base of their operations. 

The next cat is your own dear kitty, who sleeps 
under the stove all day, never scratches or bites, 
when baby pulls her ears or pinches her tail, and is 
too sweet-tempered to hurt the mice in your pantry. 
Some men and dogs have been known to lead double 
lives, but cats all lead double lives. Some cats, it is 
true, will catch mice, but in most city houses mice can 
by controlled by good masonry and carpentry and 
by traps and poison. On farms and in large barns 
good mouse cats are useful and often necessary, but, 
if you care for the birds, then do not keep more cats 
than you need, feed them regularly, and promptly dis- 
pose of all that show marked bird-hunting proclivities. 
A license law for town cats would, as has been said, 
be a good thing, but I fear that it could not be 
enforced. It would also tend to expose the advocates 
of bird protection to some ridicule, which at present 
would be very undesirable for the cause. To one who 
will go to the expense and trouble, I recommend a fence 
of wire netting from 6 to 8 feet high. Near the upper 
edge of this netting fasten from 6 to 10 wires, with 
close, sharp barbs. The space between the barb wires 
should be from ^ to 1 inch wide. Another way would 
be to nail to the posts cross pieces from 10 to 18 



G6 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

inches long. These pieces should project at right 
angles -to the outside. Connect these cross pieces by 
closely-drawn wires or by wire netting. A few barbed 
wires should be strung along the outer horizontal edge 
of this fence. Cover the outer ends of the cross pieces 
by a coil of barbed wire. A fence of that kind, I 
think, will keep out all wingless unbidden guests. 
The meshes in the wire must, of course, not be too 
large, there must be no holes left near the ground, 
and no posts, walls, or trees from which cats can jump 
into the enclosure. The appearance of such fences 
can be much improved by using them as support for 
annual climbing plants, such as the Mock Apple, or 
Wild Cucumber, Micrampelis lobata, Green. In fact, 
any ornamental climber which grows in your sections, 
and does not form wood enough for cats to climb on, 
will answer the purpose. Instead of wire netting, a 
strong, well-tarred fish net 6 feet or more in height 
may be used with good results. From time to time 
the net must receive a fresh application of tar. 

Nests on trees may be protected in the following 
way : unravel a piece of rope, until you have a string 
of loose fibres. Wind several coils of this around 
the tree, and then cover the coils of rope with a 
thick coating of tar. Fresh applications of tar must 
be made as they become necessary. The tarred rope 
also keeps caterpillars from crawling up the trees. 

Another means of preventing cats from climbing 
trees is the following ; cut a piece of wire netting 
on the bias and fasten it to the trunk like a hat rim. 



ENEMIES OF BIRDS 



67 



The cut end of the wires pointing" downward form an 
effective barrier against adventurous tabbies. 

Various plans are suggested, because not every 
one is equally well adapted to all surroundings. 
A mother who tries hard to keep a little girl's frocks 
moderately clean, might reasonably object to the 
tarred net fence. 




Fig. 10. — A Cat-proof Fence. Seen from the inside. 

Dogs hunting without their master also destroy 
the nests and young of ground birds. In cities and 
towns a rigid enforcement of the license law will 
prevent most of such nuisances. In the country 
every bird lover must look after his own dogs, and 
against his neighbors' dogs he must employ such 
means as neighborly feeling, law, and discretion allow 
him to use. 



68 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Squirrels and Chipmunks. — It is well proved that 
these animals, especially the red squirrel, destroy 
many eggs and young birds. As every bird lover 
is generally a lover of all nature, he must decide 
whether he will sacrifice some birds and keep the 
squirrels and chipmunks, or whether he will restrict 
himself to birds, and shoot the amusing, frisky little 
rodents. 

Weasels, Minks, Skunks, Foxes, etc. — In regard to 
these animals, I would say, from the bird lover's point 
of view, let nature alone. The birds must have some- 
body to look out for and to keep their wits sharpened. 
For my own part, I could not enjoy living in a world 
that was inhabited exclusively by very good people and 
by very sweetly singing birds. Let us keep some of 
the wild Indian creatures about us. 

Hawks, Owls, Crows, and Jays. — The United States 
Department of Agriculture, in an admirable pamphlet 
called " Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint of the 
Farmer," has shown conclusively that of about fifty 
species of hawks and owls investigated, only four 
common United States species are actually injurious. 
These are the duck hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, 
Cooper's hawk, and the goshawk. About ten species 
are wholly beneficial, thirty are chiefly beneficial, and 
in seven the beneficial and harmful qualities balance. 
This shows that nobody should kill a hawk or an owl 
unless he knows exactly what species he kills. Nine 
times out of ten the farmer kills one of his best friends, 
when he shoots a hawk or an owl. 



ENEMIES OF BIRDS 69 

That one may still see birds of prey nailed to barn 
doors, and that owls are still shot just to be mounted, is 
a disgrace to people living in a country where knowl- 
edge is so accessible and is so widely and liberally 
disseminated. Let every teacher procure a copy of 
" Hawks and Owls " and of " Farmers' Bulletin, No. 
54, Our Common Birds," and then let every boy be in- 
formed about the hawks and owls his seniors may want 
him to shoot. I know from experience that such teach- 
ing is very generally effective with the boys. Only a 
few months ago a boy begged me to spare a great 
horned owl which he thought I intended to kill and 
mount. He was overjoyed to learn that my taste about 
mounted owls did not differ from his. Colleges, nor- 
mal schools, and high schools can do much missionary 
work for the good of the people and for the advance- 
ment of science. In many of these schools a monthly 
paper is published by the pupils. These papers furnish 
valuable experience for a number of the pupils, but 
many of them certainly do not appear to be overwhelmed 
with valuable reading matter. In nearly every one of 
these schools are a number of boys and young men who 
take an interest in natural sciences, and who would be 
able to conduct a natural science column in the school 
paper. Articles on bird, game, fish, and forest pro- 
tection would be appropriate matter in that column. 
Publications issued by the United States Department 
of Agriculture, by the state agricultural schools, by 
the Audubon societies, and other bodies might be 
mentioned and briefly described. In cities that main- 



70 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

tain a public library, new popular scientific books 
might also be referred to from time to time. We must 
bring the results of scientific investigators home to the 
people, and here is a field white to harvest and more 
workers are needed. Boys and girls will be found 
enthusiastic in this kind of work, if teachers give them 
the necessary amount of encouragement and assistance. 
To act as mediators between the people and the univer- 
sities is one of the noble missions of the teachers in 
common and secondary schools. " For life, not simply 
for the school," is our motto. 

Do not overlook the county newspapers. Their 
editors are generally intelligent men that are glad 
to publish communications on the topics just dis- 
cussed. 

In conclusion, I would therefore say : Do not shoot 
owls, hawks, and eagles. There may be sweetness in 
the twitter of the warbler, but there is grandeur in the 
soaring of the kite and majesty in the flight of the 
eagle. 

About crows and jays, it may be said that they un- 
doubtedly are guilty of some mischief among smaller 
birds. The crow must, however, be classed as gen- 
erally beneficial, and the jay will certainly be forgiven 
many sins by those who live where birds are plentiful 
in summer but scarce in winter. During the very cold 
weather of January and February, 1899, the blue jays 
were the only native birds that called merrily from 
trees and chimney tops in the city of St. Paul. Almost 
daily, their sky-blue plumage was displayed amongst 



ENEMIES OF BIRDS 71 

the brown oak leaves, and how interesting a sight it 
was to observe them carrying pieces of fried-out leaf 
lard from the veranda into their oak groves. The jays 
also deserve credit for being able to whip the English 
sparrows. If you find too many crows and jays near 
your homes, you can easily thin them out or drive them 
away. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE ENGLISH SPARROW QUESTION 

The multiplication of the English sparrow should 
serve as a warning to all people who would introduce 
foreign birds to this continent. If North America 
should be once more connected with Asia by a wide 
isthmus, the plant and animal life of both countries 
would be deeplj affected. The Atlantic Ocean is an 
impassable barrier to most birds, and has probably 
existed as such a barrier since birds began to sing in 
the primeval forests. When we take an animal or a 
plant across this wide barrier, we introduce a disturb- 
ing factor into nature's household on the continent 
where the species is introduced. If the new species 
finds favorable conditions, it will multiply and spread 
rapidly until it meets a new impassable barrier. The 
most remarkable illustrations are the English sparrow, 
or house sparrow in this country and the rabbit in 
Australia. 

The house sparrow affects European song birds in 
much the same way that it influences our own. As 
far as I know, it is not claimed that it has directly 
caused a decrease of European birds. We need, there- 
fore, not be alarmed that it will cause the disappearance 
of our song birds. The enormous increase of the bird 
in this country is due to the following causes : — 

72 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW QUESTION 73 

1. There was certainly room for a bird scavenger in 
our towns and cities, where back yards and streets are 
not kept clean. 

2. The construction of our houses, outbuildings, 
lumber sheds, railway depots, and other structures offer 
almost unlimited nesting facilities. 

3. We have decreased the nesting facilities of our 
native birds by cutting old trees and brush near towns 
and cities. Our severely cut lawns and parks, with 
few large trees and very little shrubbery, furnish suit- 
able nesting and roosting places for only a few native 
birds. 

4. The English sparrow, finding in the winter so 
much food in back yards, around elevators, mills, 
farm-yards and railroad yards, is not subject to the 
decimating clangers of migration, and being hardy and 
omnivorous, is seldom exposed to starvation during the 
winter. 

5. As it always lives near human habitations, it is 
little exposed to its natural enemies, except the house 
cat. Its wariness and cunning, and an experience 
extending over thousands of years, enable it to almost 
entirely avoid this arch enemy of bird-kind. I have 
never known an English sparrow to nest in a place 
readily accessible to cats. 

If a severe snow storm begins on Saturday, continues 
over Sunday, and blocks the street. traffic on Monday, 
then life looks gloomy for the bold chirpers, and many 
of them are starved. If a severe rain or hail storm 
passes over a town at night before the young have 



74 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

become hardy, or before the birds have begun roosting 
under eaves, in sheds, barns, and other protected places, 
many of them also perish. These are about the only 
weather accidents which interfere much with them. 

6. The bird is a prolific breeder, and an omnivorous 
feeder. It will take dead floating minnows out of the 
water, and catch insects on the wing as well as on the 
ground and on trees ; it will eat grass as well as grain 
and salt pork, and, if necessary, it will nest on all kinds 
of trees. 

A bird thus equipped is certainly one of the fittest 
of all creatures that ever spread wings to all kinds of 
winds, and as long as it lives under the favorable con- 
ditions just described it will continue to multiply until 
it has filled the land. 

Injury caused by the House Sparrow. — To the gar- 
dener and agriculturist the bird does about as much 
good as harm. I know that it has done much, for 
instance, to control the box-elder leaf roller on my 
trees. To the bird lover it is mainly objectionable 
because by its bold, pugilistic, and mobbing proclivities 
it drives away the more desirable and beneficial native 
birds. 

How can the Sparrows be kept in Check ? — The com- 
plete extermination of the bird is an impossibility, and 
state or public bounties will only deplete the respective 
treasuries, without harming the sparrow to any great 
extent. 1 

1 See "Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties." Year 
Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1896. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW QUESTION 75 

I suggest the following means for controlling them: — 

1. We must keep our streets, back yards, and farm- 
yards as free as possible from waste grain and offal. 

2. Do not allow them to nest on your premises. 

3. Do not allow them to roost. In warm weather 
they roost on trees, often in large numbers. In cold 
weather they seek more sheltered places, retiring about 
half an hour before sunset. Catch them, shoot them, 
turn the hose on them, or simply drive them away, and 
they will soon desert your premises. A small flock 
that roosted on my trees left for good after they had 
been disturbed three or four times. 

I think, however, that all the means thus far men- 
tioned will prove makeshifts not permanently producing 
the desired result. The only really successful method 
of fighting the sparrow pest is outlined in the following 
communication, which Mr. Frank Bond, editor of the 
Wyoming Tribune, Cheyenne, Wj-o. has kindly placed 
at my disposal. He whites as follows: — 

" I think it was in the autumn of 1889 that some of 
our trap shooters imported a quantity of the birds to 
shoot from traps, and, of course, a number escaped. 
These furnished the stock for future multitudes. For 
a year very few of the sparrows were seen, but as they 
multiplied and became bolder with numbers, they soon 
attracted my attention. I began shooting and poison- 
ing them, getting permission from the city government 
to pursue the work in whatever way I thought desirable. 
Carrying on a regular campaign, I have succeeded in 
keeping their numbers so reduced that they have not 



76 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

in any way interfered either with the pleasure of the 
public or the breeding and pleasure of our native birds, 
which have increased greatly in numbers with the 
growth of our trees and parks. We were set down in 
the midst of the ; great desert ' thirty-two years ago, 
with nothing larger than plain's grass to cast a shadow 
in our neighborhood. Our city now, thanks to the 
energy of her people, is an oasis, through arboriculture, 
and the birds of the plains and lower mountains have 
come to dwell with us. It was in their interest, in 
great measure, that I began the destruction of the 
house sparrow. I think the close of my winter's work 
has never left more than thirty or forty birds uncap- 
tured, unless more than that number escaped last 
spring. My work this winter, 1898-99, has been much 
more successful than usual, for after a thorough search 
a short time ago, I was able to find only one live sparrow 
in the city. There may be more, but there are cer- 
tainly not many. 

"Without going into the -failures I have met with, 
I am satisfied that in this region poisoned whole wheat 
is the most effective engine of war. 

" I take two small bottles of strychnine, one dram 
each, and mix the contents with about three quarts of 
water, boiling until the poison is thoroughly dissolved, 
using boiling water to begin with. Into the hot 
poisoned water I stir nearly if not quite, a peck of 
wheat, and then set the mixture aside for forty-eight 
hours. The grain absorbs all the water and swells 
greatly. I then spread the grain over the bottom of 



THE ENGLISH SPAKROW QUESTION 77 

a large pan, one that will just slide into my wife's 
kitchen range, keep the grain hot and stir it frequently 
until it is thoroughly dried. The grain must not be 
scorched in the least, as then the birds, especially the 
old ones, will not eat it. When the grain is thoroughly 
dried, it takes a better expert than even an English 
sparrow to discover any change in its appearance. If 
an exceeding deadly grain is wanted another dram of 
the poison can be used, but the above will be found 
effective. It needs but one grain of this wheat to kill 
a sparrow in three minutes as I have timed the experi- 
ment, and the grain gets no farther than the crop, 
sometimes not so far. I scatter the grain sparingly 
near the roosting places of the birds and in localities 
where they are accustomed to feed. Snowy, cold 
weather, when there is little bare ground, is the best 
time. The baited places should be visited daily, if 
possible, and the dead birds should be removed. You 
will be surprised at the killings you will make. By 
persistent effort, you can enormously reduce their 
numbers, and that is worth working for." 1 

5. If you cannot drive the sparrows away or will not 
poison them, you may compromise with them by offer- 
ing nesting boxes in places attractive to them, and take 
the eggs out of them as the sets are laid. In that way 
they can be kept from multiplying. The boxes may 
be made with a sliding or opening cover and may be 
placed where they are accessible from attic or second 

1 Compare "The So-called Sparrow War in Boston." Bird-Lore, 
August, 1899, page 137. 



78 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

story windows, which the sparrows have not yet en- 
closed in their list of proscribed localities. 

The destruction of the sparrows must not be left to 
small boys. In towns and cities the work should be 
undertaken by competent persons authorized or engaged 
by the municipality. Great care must be exercised 
in handling strychnine. 

Where the measures just described are carried out, 
the sparrows will not become too numerous in gardens, 
in parks, and on farms. They will be largely restricted 
to the business streets of towns and cities and to other 
localities that are not inhabited bj^ native birds. 

It is not impossible that our native birds will to some 
degree accustom themselves to the sparrows. Robins, 
purple martins, red -headed and downy woodpeckers, I 
think, have already learned to hold their own success- 
fully. Last winter I watched a downy woodpecker 
examining a soft maple. A sparrow drew up very 
close as if he intended to learn the downy's trade ; 
suddenly the little carpenter turned upon his specta- 
tor and gave him a vicious peck, and the sparrow with- 
drew to a more respectful distance without an attempt 
at retaliation. 

Moreover, the plucky, wary little creatures certainly 
deserve some consideration if not even a little admira- 
tion. I must confess that I prefer a flock of spar- 
rows in my back yard to the shroud-like loneliness 
of snowdrifts ; and in its habits and its conquest of the 
world the sparrow is undoubtedly one of the most 
interesting birds. He is an unequivocal imperialist 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW QUESTION 



79 



and has been most successful in annexing and holding 
new territories. Still, if you desire our beautiful and 
musical native birds to live with you, you must keep 
down the sparrows. 

Mr. Frank Bond has furnished me the following list 
of mostly western birds which have been taken in and 
near the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. None were 
taken more than three miles from the city limits. A 
large number of these birds would be more or less an- 
noyed by the English sparrow, if that pest had not 
almost been exterminated at Cheyenne. The numbers 
refer to the second edition of the Check-List of North 
American Birds published by the American Ornitholo- 
gists' Union. 



394a. 


Gardner's Woodpecker. 


488. 


American Crow. 


404. 


Williamson's Sapsucker. 


491. 


Clarke's Nutcracker. 


406. 


Red-headed Woodpecker. 


492. 


Pi fion Jay. 


408. 


Lewis's Woodpecker. 


495. 


Cowbird. 


413. 


Red-shafted Flicker. 


497. 


Yellow-headed Blackbird. 


418. 


' Poor-will. 


498. 


Bahaman Red-wing. 


420a. 


Nighthawk. 


5016. 


Western Meadowlark. 


432. 


Broad-tailed Humming 


508. 


Bullock's Oriole. 




bird. 


510. 


Brewer's Blackbird. 


447. 


Arkansas Kingbird. 


5116. 


Bronzed Grackle. 


448. 


Cassin's Kingbird. 


514. 


Evening Grosbeak. 


454. 


Ash-throated Flycatcher. 


519. 


House Finch. 


457. 


Say's Phoebe. 


524. 


Gray-crowned Leucosticte. 


459. 


Olive-sided Flycatcher. 


528. 


Redpoll. 


462. 


Western Wood Peewee. 


529. 


Holboll's Redpoll. 


474c. 


Desert Horned Lark. 


530. 


Arkansas Goldfinch. 


475. 


American Magpie. 


533. 


Pine Siskin. 


4786. 


Steller's Jay. 


534. 


Snowflake. 



80 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



536. 


Lapland Longspur. 


621. 


537. 


Smith's Longspur. 


622a. 


538. 


Chestnut-collared Long- 


624. 




spur. 


646. 


539. 


MeCown's Longspur. 


647. 


540a. 


Western Vesper Sparrow. 


648. 


5425. 


Western Savanna Spar- 


652. 




row. 


655. 


552. 


Lark Sparrow. 


656. 


559a. 


Western Tree Sparrow. 


661. 


560. 


Chipping Sparrow. 


675a. 


561. 


Clay-colored Sparrow. 


680. 


562. 


Brewer's Sparrow. 


681a. 


567a. 


Oregon Junco. 


685. 


568. 


Pink-sided Junco. 


687. 


574a. 


Sage Sparrow. 


700. 


581a. 


Desert Song Sparrow. 


701. 


583. 


Lincoln's Sparrow. 


702. 


588. 


Oregon Towhee. 


704. 


596. 


Black-headed Grosbeak. 


715. 


599. 


Lazuli Bunting. 


721a. 


605. 


Lark Bunting. 


726. 


607. 


Louisiana Tanager. 


727a. 


608. 


Scarlet Tanager. 


728. 


611. 


Cooper's Tanager. 


730. 


612. 


Cliff Swallow. 


738. 


613. 


Barn Swallow. 


749. 


614. 


Tree Swallow. 


754. 


616. 


Bank Swallow. 


758. 


617. 


Rough-winged Swallow. 


761. 


618. 


Bohemian Waxwing. 


761a. 


619. 


Cedar Waxwing. 


768. 



Northern Shrike. 
White-r umped Shrike. 
Ked-eyed Vireo. 
Orange-crowned Warbler. 
Tennessee Warbler. 
Parula Warbler. 
Yellow Warbler. 
Myrtle Warbler. 
Audubon's Warbler. 
Black -poll Warbler. 
Grinnell's Water Thrush. 
Macgillivray's Warbler. 
Western Yellow-throat. 
Wilson's W ar bier . 
American Bedstart. 
Spragne's Pipit. 
American Dipper. 
Sage Thrasher. 
Catbird. 
Rock Wren. 
Parkman's Wren. 
Brown Creeper. 
Mexican Creeper. 
Red-breasted Nuthatch. 
Pygmy Nuthatch. 
Mountain Chickadee. 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 
Townsend's Solitaire. 
Russet-backed Thrush. 
American Robin. 
Western Robin. 
Mountain Bluebird. 



CHAPTER VIII 

BIRDS ON HATS, BOYS, COLLECTORS, SO-CALLED BIRD 
STUDENTS, BIRD HUNTERS, UBIQUITOUS GUNNERS 

It is a pleasure to state that the fashion of wearing 
birds on hats is certainly waning. Let every girl and 
every lady interested in song birds refrain from wear- 
ing any feathers except those of game birds, domestic 
birds, and ostriches, and the plume hunters' business 
will cease to pay and die a natural death. Intelli- 
gent women, prominent in society, can easily place hats 
with song-bird corpses under the ban. With the school- 
girls, the teachers can accomplish the desired result. 
Still more good would result, if some inventive genius 
could discover a process by which artificial feathers could 
be succesf ully manufactured from rubber, celluloid, or 
some other substance. Perhaps the feathers of the 
numerous varieties of domestic fowls could be so pre- 
pared that they would satisfy the most divergent tastes. 
Any one who would invent or perfect a process by 
which the manufacture of artificial feathers would be- 
come a commercial success, would be one of the great- 
est benefactors of the birds. I am convinced that the 
majority of women wearing feathers of song birds or 
other wild birds do so from ignorance. Schools, 
G 81 



82 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

societies, and the press must do their duty to dispel 
the darkness. The business of the plume hunter is a 
particularly disgusting one, because his favorite hunt- 
ing time is the breeding and nesting season of birds, 
when their plumage is at its best. A Florida plume 
hunter once told Mr. Frank M. Chapman that he had 
killed three hundred egrets in one afternoon. This 
meant that he had caused the death of about one 
thousand helpless nestlings by starvation. The only 
wrong these innocent creatures had ever committed 
was that their parents bore a beautiful, delicate plum- 
age which ignorant or vain women will buy regardless 
of the brutal slaughter by which it was obtained. 1 Does 
the word of the prophet " Have we not all one father, 
hath not one God created us ? " only apply to human 
kind with all its sinfulness, corruption, and depravity? 
Should it not apply to the birds and the beasts of the 
woods, many of which are far more faithful and useful 
workers in the vineyard of nature than some people 
who live in first-class hotels? 

Among the members of the Audubon society we 
notice a few divines and clergymen, but their number 
should be much larger. Is it not about time that our 
churches, too, preach and practice humaneness in its 

1 Send for a leaflet entitled : " The Wearing of Herons' Plumes or 
Aigrettes," by Frank M. Chapman. Address Miss Emma H. Lock- 
wood, 24o West Seventy-fifth St. , New York City, or Miss Mary A. 
Mellick, Plainfield, N. J. The pamphlet is sent free to applicants. 

All ladies and girls interested in birds and in humane work should 
read : " The Audubon Societies and their Work," by Frank M. Chap- 
man, the Delineator, March, 1898. 



BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 83 

widest sense? Are there not many preachers of the 
Gospel who are ignorant of nature, from which their 
Master could draw so many great and beautiful lessons? 
Ministers and churches have, indeed, taken up the 
battle for the dumb creatures that man has forced into 
servitude so that he himself might reach higher and 
nobler aims, but of our dumb kin of woods and fields it 
is still true that "the whole creation groaneth and tra- 
vaileth in pain together until now." If our science is 
of the right kind and if our Christianity is more than a 
custom, then let our sympathy and mercy corne forth 
and speak for all of our Father's children that cannot 
speak for themselves. 

Nor need we go back to the prophets and apostles of 
Israel ; the seers have lived and many are still living 
in our midst. Have we heeded them ? Read the fol- 
lowing lines from Longfellow, who never believed that 
the higher and stronger being should merely act the 
part of the brutal conqueror. 

" Then the little Hiawatha 
Learned of every bird its language, 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How they built their nests in summer, 
Where they hid themselves in winter, 
Talked with them whene'er he met them, 
Called them ' Hiawatha's Chickens.' 

" Of all beasts he learned the language, 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How the beavers built their lodges, 
Where the squirrels hid their acorns, 



84 OUK NATIVE BIRDS 

How the reindeer ran so swiftly, 
Why the rabbit was so timid, 

Talked with them whene'er he met them, 
Called them < Hiawatha's Brothers.' " 1 

The boy collector must be taken in hand by the 
teacher, as will be shown in the next section. 

The professional and the amateur collectors must be 
handled by the public press and by the courts. Let 
the Audubon Society, the humane societies, the League 
of American Sportsmen, and the state game wardens 
work hand in hand on these nuisances without any 
jealousy. AYhere a warning might be sufficient no 
prosecution should take place. The state game war- 
dens and the L. A. S. will gladly look after the law- 
breakers that are made known to them. It is, of course, 
not advisable to make complaints of this kind in court 
against one's neighbors, but where societies are in ear- 
nest they can easily find means to make unlicensed col- 
lectors very uncomfortable. When collections are to 
be made for really worthy purposes, the state game 
warden should issue a license. 

The trade in mounted song birds and in bird eggs 
must be suppressed. Let every lover of nature show 
what he thinks of the persons in this trade, and of the 
papers and magazines facilitating it. You participate 
in the wrong, if you give any moral or business support 
to any of them. In a paper which, pretends to work 
in the interest of game protection I find the following 
advertisement : — " Learn to Stuff Birds," etc. Then 
1 See also Longfellow's " The Birds of Killingworth. " 



BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 85 

a certain preparation is recommended and a correspond- 
ent writes that he has a class of seven boys learning the 
art of stuffing birds, an art which the average boy should 
not learn. 

Withdraw your support from all persons that work 
for bird destruction. Let individuals and societies 
notify the publishers of papers and magazines, when 
such advertisements appear. The next step would be 
to enact laws forbidding the trade in mounted song 
birds and in bird eggs. The advertising of such ma- 
terial would be or could be made prima facie evidence 
of a violation of the law. 

I think it will also be found necessary to prohibit or 
regulate by law the caging and keeping of native live 
song birds. If a prohibition is not considered wise, 
then a license should be imposed, but such a license 
would be difficult to collect. In Europe a regular bird- 
catching industry sprang up and had to be ostracized 
by law. One can find now in almost any bird store 
mocking birds and Kentucky cardinals. To what ex- 
tent this trade has affected the number of these birds 
in their native haunts farther south I do not know. I 
surmise, however, that it must reduce them consider- 
ably, because for every bird that is successfully raised 
or tamed, two or three will perish. Let us go where 
wild birds are not forced to sing behind iron bars. 

The actual song-bird hunters, those fellows that 
shoot song birds in order to devour the tiny morsels, 
deserve no mercy whatever. They are mostly people 
who come from European countries where all mamma- 



86 OUR, NATIVE BIRDS 

lian game and all game birds have been exterminated. 
The only hunting sport these people know is the catch- 
ing and shooting of song birds during the spring and 
fall migration. If the Italian peasantry catch and eat 
nightingales and skjdarks by the thousand, they may 
at least claim as a mitigating circumstance that there 
are no other creatures on which they can indulge their 
taste for out-door sport. Any one who has ever felt 
the exhilaration of a day's shooting on a North Ameri- 
can rush-fringed lake, can sympathize with them, but 
in this country we cannot tolerate song-bird hunting 
as long as we have still millions of ducks and grouse. 
If a person will not go to the expense of reaching duck 
and grouse grounds, let him hunt song birds with ko- 
dak and camera — or track mice and rats. Fortunately 
only a few large cities have a bird-hunting population. 
A heavy penalty should be placed on the shooting of 
small birds that are not game birds. Park superin- 
tendents, landowners, and societies should put up signs 
calling attention to the law and the penalties. Such 
signs will not keep off all offenders, but they do keep 
away a great many and make all very cautious. Every 
offender caught should be handed over to the full 
severity of the law. On the military reservation of Ft. 
Snelling, Minn., such signs have proved very useful, so 
that its groves and river bottoms have become a para- 
dise for birds, although the reservation is easily acces- 
sible to residents of both St. Paul and Minneapolis. 

The points just discussed must make it evident to 
all bird lovers that it is to the interest of song birds to 



BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 87 

have our game mammals, our game birds, and our fish 
protected and preserved. Where deer have disap- 
peared, coons, hares, and rabbits have become big 
game, and where geese, ducks, grouse, and quail are 
exterminated, robins, orioles, and bluebirds will become 
fowls, as is proved in several South European countries. 
Men and boys will continue to love the gun and the 
rod, and however much we may desire to make our boys 
become true lovers of nature, we certainly do not want 
to educate their aggressive virility and their love for 
sport and adventure out of them. A nation needs 
philosophers, poets, artists, and perhaps even some 
dreamers, but she also needs just that bubbling vitality 
which in every healthy boy is the delight of parents 
and teachers who take the trouble to understand boys. 
Give your restless, mischievous, mean boy a good book 
on outdoor sport, and he will at once drop mischief 
and meanness, forget even about eating, and will quickly 
become your staunch friend. 

I cannot close this chapter without calling attention 
to the nuisance of ubiquitous, irresponsible gunners of 
all classes, men, women, and boys. If you have not 
enough moral backbone to let song birds, ducks, loons, 
terns, and other lake and shore birds alone, when you 
go on a summer outing or for a few days' fishing, 
then in the name of human kindness and for the sake 
of the birds, leave your guns and little rifles at home ! 
The birds were not intended for your targets. Have 
another gun slave throw up potatoes for you and 
remember that the ball will penetrate or possibly pass 



88 OUll NATIVE BIKDS 

the potato. What does a man want with a gun, any- 
how, during the close season? It is all right to buy 
your twelve-year-old boy a gun or a .22 rifle, but see to 
it that he does not shoot at everything that creeps, 
runs, or flies ! . Boys going about with firearms in towns 
or in the immediate vicinity of towns are an unmiti- 
gated nuisance. They do not know any better, but 
their elders do know better, or they should be taught 
by the courts. 

A communication which I find in the March number 
of Recreation of 1899 contains such a sad comment 
upon the common sense and self control of so many 
city outing parties that I reproduce it here : — 

" Many people visit our trout streams during the 
summer. All — men, boys, and, I am sorry to say, 
ladies — carry .22 rifles. Our visitors are in the coun- 
try for fun, and when they are not fishing, they must 
shoot. So our robins, larks, and bluebirds yield their 
lives to afford a moment's amusement to creatures of a 
presumedly higher scale. One incident I noticed par- 
ticularly. I saw a pair of bluebirds building in a hol- 
low stump, and as often as I passed I looked at them. 
After a while, five beautiful eggs lay in the nest. At 
my next visit, I was greeted by the gaping mouths of 
four baby birds. A short time after, I saw two ladies 
— save the mark — shooting ,22's near this nest. The 
next evening I passed, and there beside the stump lay 
the mother bird with a bullet hole through her body, 
and in the nest were her four babies, dead of cold and 



BIRDS ON HATS, ETC. 89 

starvation. This is but one incident of many that oc- 
curred on the Rattlesnake, and no doubt on all streams 
where -parties go for a few days' outing. 

"G. E. Van Buren, 

" Missoula, Mont." 

Is it a wonder that our birds decrease ? Cats hunt 
them in the city ; ignorant schoolboys molest them in 
the country ; men, boys, and females, whom Mr. Van 
Buren very charitably, but just as inappropriately calls 
" ladies," murder them at summer resorts and in the 
trout-stream woods. If you are a good marksman, you 
need not demonstrate it on song birds and on innocent 
shore birds in the summer time. If 3^011 cannot be happy 
without shooting, take an old barn-door with you and 
place it against a sand hill. We are in great need of a 
gun license to keep track of the fools, old and young, 
male and female. The wonder is that we have any 
birds left at all. 

The only legal remedy to abate this nuisance would 
be a gun license in every settled district. 1 

1 See "Principles of The League of American Sportsmen," page 
132. 



CHAPTER IX 

SONG BIRDS AS FOOD 

The disgraceful killing of song birds for food has 
already caused fearful destruction among the birds in 
some sections of our country. From Pennsylvania, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Michigan, 
North Carolina, and New Orleans come reports saying 
that song birds, and, in fact, practically every kind of 
bird is shot, sold, and devoured as game. The crim- 
inals are mostly French, Italian, and Hungarian labor- 
ers in the northern states, and negroes, Italians, and 
French Creoles in the southern states. Robins, thrushes, 
flickers, native sparrows, and even swallows are sold in 
the markets of New Orleans, In 1897, two thousand 
six hundred robins were received by one dealer in 
Washington, D.C., in a single month. The birds were 
shipped from North Carolina and had been killed while 
roosting. 

The only kind of teaching this class of criminals is 
capable of appreciating are the programmes dictated by 
the judges and carried out by state prison wardens and 
county sheriffs. The League of American Sportsmen 
and the Audubon Societies are now extending their 
work into the southern states, and they will not hesitate 
to have the laws applied ; and every good citizen should 
help them in this duty. 



SONG BIRDS AS FOOD 91 

To all lovers of nature, however, these reports show 
the great importance of protecting our real game birds, 
mammals, and fish. Private citizens and societies must 
do all in their power to have game, bird, fish, and forest 
protection taught in every kind of school in the land. 
Ten, fifteen years from now, the boys and young men 
now in the schools will take part in expressing and 
forming public opinion, and many of them will be mem- 
bers of state legislatures and some will be in congress. 
If we win them now, and we can win them, the days of 
disgraceful, barbarous destruction will have come to an 
end. Creating a general public sentiment on this sub- 
ject is the only way of settling this question right. 

In the common schools the subject must receive due 
attention in connection with nature study, which Ave 
must teach in real earnest in every school. In second- 
ary schools and colleges the professors of botany and 
zoology must at times wrest themselves away from mi- 
croscopical cells and abstruse biological problems and 
not forget entirely the flowers, the trees, the birds and 
beasts which made this earth interesting and beautiful 
long before microscope and microtome revealed their 
minute anatomy. 



SECTION V 

EDUCATION AND THE BIRDS 
CHAPTER X 

Educating Adults. — Those grown people that are 
willing to be educated can be reached by the public 
press, and by such magazines as Bird Lore, Recreation, 
Forest and Stream, and others ; by the publications of 
the United States Department of Agriculture, and by 
the abundant and constantly increasing bird literature. 

The Audubon Societies, the League of American 
Sportsmen, and other societies that work for the 
preservation and appreciation of the interesting and 
the beautiful in nature, have already done much good 
work, but their membership must be very much in- 
creased. To compel people desirous of joining one of 
these societies to write a letter and expend from five 
to ten cents in order to have his membership fee of 
twenty-five cents or one dollar reach the proper parties, 
is very poor business policy. In every town one or more 
book-stores and other business houses will be found 
willing to receive dues and issue membership cards. 
Display in these places the beautiful colored chart of 
twenty-six common birds, published by the Massachu- 
setts Audubon Society, and on a placard attached to the 
chart invite people to join. On a table near the chart 

92 



EDUCATION AND THE BIRDS 93 

place some circulars explaining the purpose of the 
society. Public libraries would also be good places 
for this missionary work. There can be no possible 
objection to this method, which is employed by all 
kinds of respectable business concerns. The time of 
people who are interested in such work is generally of 
some value, and they cannot afford to spend two hours 
in carrying fifty cents to an out-of-the-way private 
residence. I know of a man in a large western city 
who had to write to New York for the address of his 
local Audubon Society. Leagues and associations for 
game, fish, and forest protection might employ similar 
methods. Gun stores and dealers in sportsmen's goods 
will generally be found willing to receive dues and 
issue membership cards. 

Directory of State Audubon Societies 

WITH NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF THEIR SECRETARIES 

1. Connecticut. Mrs. William Brown Glover, Fairfield. 

2. District of Columbia. Mrs. John Dewhurst Patten, 3033 P 

street, Washington. 

3. Illinois. Miss Mary Drummond, Wheaton. 

4. Indiana. Amos W. Butler, State House, Indianapolis. 

5. Iowa. Miss Xellie S. Board, Keokuk. 

6. Massachusetts. Miss Harriet E. Richards, care Boston Society 

of Natural History, Boston. 

7. Minnesota. Mrs. J. P. Elmer, 314 West Third street, St. Paul. 

8. New Hampshire. Mrs. F. W. Batchelder, Manchester. 

9. New Jersey. Miss Anna Haviland, 53 Sanford avenue, 

Plainfield. 
10. New York. Miss Emma H. Lockwood, 243 West Seventy- 
fifth street, Xew York City. 



94 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

11. Ohio. Miss Clara Russell, 903 Paradrome street, Cincinnati. 

12. Pennsylvania. Mrs. Edward Robins, 114 South Twenty-first 

street, Philadelphia. 

13. Rhode Island. Mrs. H. P. Grant, Jr., 187 Bowen street, Prov- 

idence. 

14. West Virginia. Elizabeth I. Cummins, 1314 Chapline street, 

Wheeling. 

15. Wisconsin. Mrs. Geo. W. Peckham, 646 Marshall street, 

Milwaukee. 

16. California. Mrs. George S. Gay, Redlands. 

17. Tennessee. Mrs. C. C. Conner, Ripley. 

18. Texas. Miss Cecile Seixas, 2008 Thirty-ninth street, Galveston. 1 

It is to be hoped that in the near future this society 
will be able to extend its work to every state and terri- 
tory. Every large city should also have a society. 
Officers of the societies will do well to correspond with 
the teachers who have charge of the nature study work 
in the schools. 

All adults who continue to break the laws enacted 
for the protection of song birds should be warned, and 
prosecuted, if necessary. In states where no such laws 
exist, the society should see that they are enacted. It 
will also prove desirable to pass a law combining a Bird 
Day with the Arbor Day now observed in many states. 

Text of the Minnesota Bird axd Arbor Day 
Law, passed 1899 

" The governor is hereby authorized to set apart each 
year, by proclamation, one day to be designated as 
Arbor and Bird Day, and to request its observance by 

1 This list is taken from the October number of Bird Lore. 



EDUCATION AND THE BIRDS 95 

all public schools, private schools, colleges, and other 
institutions by the planting of trees, the adornment of 
school and public grounds, and by suitable exercises, 
having for their object the advancement of arboricul- 
ture, the promotion of a spirit of protection to Birds 
and Trees, and the cultivation of an appreciative senti- 
ment concerning them." 

The following states have passed a Bird and Arbor 
Day law : — 

Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana. 

Islands, Groves, Parks, and Woods Commemorative 
of Noted Ornithologists. — If the spirit of Audubon 
could come back to earth, he would be but little 
pleased with bronze or marble statues erected to his 
memory in a country where men and boys slaughter 
birds and where women wear the corpses on hats. An 
island, a grove, or any other convenient place made 
especially attractive to birds, and named Audubon 
Island, Nuttall Grove, or Wilson Park would be the 
best tribute to these bird-lore pioneers. In a similar 
way we could truly and .fittingly honor many of our 
nature poets, writers, and scientists. It is very desir- 
able to attract coots, blackbirds, snipes, swamp wrens, 
and other birds to our park lakes. In order to do that, 
we must allow rushes, weeds, and sedges to grow in 
corners and baj r s, which would also make good spawn- 
ing places for some kinds of fish. These rushes, cat- 
tails, and floating plants have also an aesthetic value, 
and a lake or pond without them is about as interest- 
ing as a piece of window glass. 



CHAPTER XI 

EDUCATING THE GROWING GENERATION 

This education must begin in our public schools. 
Every boy is a born bird student, but his natural 
methods are too destructive for the birds. In the nat- 
ure study work children must learn the habits of our 
common birds and must learn of the benefits the birds 
render us. Give them glimpses of the work of birds, 
how they build their little homes, care for their young 
and defend them at the risk of their own lives. Show 
them to what dangers birds are constantly exposed and 
how the fall and spring migrations always are long, 
dangerous journeys. Too much direct forbidding and 
preaching is harmful, for in the heart of every boy 
sleeps the spirit of opposition. Soft sentiment or gush- 
ing talk is also harmful. In connection with the study 
read such articles as u Silverspot, the Crow," and " Red- 
ruff, the Don Valley Partridge " in Thompson's " Wild 
Animals I Have Known." Literature of that kind 
creates true sympathy with nature and after that is 
awakened, the boy is converted. 

Tell the children about the hardships that winter 
birds are exposed to, and teach them how to feed birds 
in winter and in unfavorable weather at other seasons. 
Let the boys make nesting boxes and study the tenants 
of the boxes. This bird study should not be mere 
play, but should be made profitable although pleasant 

96 



EDUCATING THE GROWING GENERATION 97 

work. Let teachers and schools do all they can to 
spread good bird literature and to fight such tradi- 
tional ignorance that does, for instance, still prevail 
against hawks and owls. This work must, however, 
also receive due attention in high schools and in 
normal schools from which our teachers go out. In 
these schools, as well as in common schools, bird study 
clubs can do much good, if they strictly refrain from 
collecting birds and eggs and if the teachers see to it 
that nests are not too frequently visited. Every bird 
actually placed in a collection by schoolboys probably 
means the wounding or killing of half a dozen. You 
may be sure that, if you start schoolboys collecting 
eggs and birds, you will soon have studied the birds 
out of the country. Every teacher that augments 
the egg and bird collecting mania helps to decrease our 
birds. 2 Use good charts and colored pictures, observe 
the birds outdoors, and let alone those that you can- 
not reach by these means. Moreover, in many states, 
schoolboy collectors would violate the law. This 
collecting must be done only by competent licensed 
collectors. Most private collections serve only the 
whim of the collector. With proper directions chil- 
dren may profitably collect insects, plants, and minerals, 
but they may learn much and not make any collections. 
There is certainly knowledge that would be too dearly 

1 Teachers and others who are interested in natural sciences but 
do not have access to many books, to libraries, and museums, can get 
much help and inspiration from the A gassiz Association. For detailed 
information, write to Mr. H. H. Ballard, Pittsfield, Mass. 



98 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

bought for the child. The flowers bloom most beau- 
tifully where they grow, and birds are most beautiful 
and sing most sweetly when they perch on the free 
swaying branches. I know of more than one bird and 
egg collection that serve no other purposes except to 
be in safe cases and accumulate the dust of ages. 

Bird Day in the Schools. — Our teachers have so 
much experience in arranging all kinds of exercises 
that special directions for the observance of Bird Day 
seem not necessary. Songs, declamations, reports of 
observations, illustrated talks, and easy dramatic repre- 
sentations are in order. Reports about individual 
birds will always be much appreciated, and the younger 
the pupils are, the more anything with action in it will 
appeal to them. Bird magazines and educational 
papers furnish an abundance of material, and much 
excellent matter can be found in the works of our clas- 
sical poets and writers. Nor is it necessary that all the 
exercises be about birds. From a pedagogical point of 
view, it would be better to observe a Nature Day than to 
limit ourselves strictly to trees and birds. Bird study, 
like every other good thing, can be overdone, so that 
the public and the children will become surfeited. 

A little Bird Day material is here offered, with the 
hope that it may prove useful in some schools and 
homes. It will probably be best to select from it, as 
to give all of it might unduly lengthen the programme. 
It is much better that the children should wish they 
could have had a little more than that they should be 
wearied by exercises that are too long. 



SECTION VI 

THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 

General Directions. — A person who has the time 
and is willing to take the trouble, cai> interest the 
children much in exercises in which a number of 
children act the parts of different birds. The exer- 
cises may, of course, be arranged without any special 
costumes for the participants ; a few suggestions, 
however, are here offered for such costumes. The 
dresses or costumes of the children need not copy the 
coloration of the birds, but it is desirable that they be 
at least suggestive. 

Where special suits are made, dress the boys in 
tight-fitting brownie suits. Cut out large wing- 
shaped pieces of cloth, gather and fasten these on the 
shoulder and down the back, and let them fall in 
points over the hands. Colored tissue paper and any 
colored paper is good material to bring out the color 
effects. 

For girls, use tight-fitting waists, with wings made 
as for boys. Use paper, cambric, or any other inex- 
pensive material. 

Where no suits are to be made, any dress or clothing 
on which the desired color predominates may be used. 
Touches of other colors can be added in various ways, 



100 OTIK NATIVE BIRDS 

as by caps, hoods, strips, and pieces of paper; but the 
effect should be pleasing and not ridiculous. The size, 
complexion, color of the hair, and temperament of the 
children must also be considered. If handled in the 
right way, it may be possible to make such exercises a 
success in high schools and normal schools. Care 
should be taken not to make the exercise too long. 
The amount of matter to be used and its arrangement 
must be decided by the person in charge. The wings 
should be omitted from the costume, unless a pleasing 
effect can be attained. 

1. The Mockingbird. — Boy ten to fourteen years old. Front light 

gray, back gray, wings brown-gray. 

2. The Snowy Heron. — Girl twelve to sixteen years old, plain 

white. 

3. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. — Girl, rose carmine vest, skirt gray, 

back black, wings black with one large white spot. 

4. Green-winged Teal. — Girl of eight to fourteen, chestnut-brown 

gimp with high neck collar, wings dull gray, with a broad 
green stripe, skirt light gray. 

5. Blue-winged Teal. — Girl of eight to twelve, small lead-purple 

gimp, waist brown, skirt gray, wings dull sky-blue. 

6. Orchard Oriole. — Girl of eight to twelve, black gimp, extend- 

ing down to the breast, waist and skirt reddish brown, wings 
black, with large brown spot touching the gimp toward the 
front. 

7. Brown Thrush. — Girl of ten to twelve, waist light gray, speckled 

with brown, wings and skirt brown. 

[These birds occupy seats near Uncle Sam's desk and act as 
attorneys or speakers for the birds. Other birds may be 
selected for this part in some cases.] 



THE BIKDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 101 

PART FIRST 

INTRODUCTION 

By the Mockingbird 

We birds have written to Washington, 

We have written to Uncle Sam ; 

And he will be present 

To hear our complaint 

And will see that justice is done. 

In open court we complain to-day 
Against old and young evil-doers. 
The thoughtless boy, the gray-headed fool ; 
The farmer, the gardener, the gunner, 
The lady who cruelly pins us to hats, — 
They must all go where birds never sing. 

[Uncle Sam enters represented by a large boy, dressed in the usual 
Uncle Sam costume, bows to the audience in two or three 
directions and takes his seat behind a table or large desk. A 
boy dressed as a soldier carries in Uncle Sam's valise, places it 
on the floor, and takes a lower chair in some convenient place 
near Uncle Sam. On the table are a number of real or sup- 
posed large law books. Uncle Sam carries a big gun and a 
sword.] 

Uncle Sam 

I have a letter from the birds, 
Now let them come and speak. 

The Mockingbird 

Most honorable Uncle Sam, 

As birddom's attorneys we come. 



102 OUR NATIVE BIKDS 

Please, graciously hear our pleadings, 
This is what the birds have to say: — 

In your blessed land of freedom 
We have lived for years and years, 
Long before the white man came here, 
We have played in wood and glen, — 
Since the days of Pilgrim Fathers 
We have been the farmer's friends ; 
But we have most grievous charges 
'Gainst him who ought to protect us. 
For five hundred thousand beetles 
He will not ten berries pay; 
We should catch all caterpillars, 
But should not touch grain or corn. 
Please make him to plant some bushes, 
Tell him not to cut old trees. 
Willingly he pays your taxes, 
Please tell him to pay us ours, 
Ask him not to house the sparrows ; 
And to kill bird-eating cats, 
All cats, roaming in the woodland, 
All cats that do climb our trees. 

Uncle Sam 

[To a boy dressed as farmer or gardener. Uncle Sam speaks 
harshly, his right hand on a gun, musket, or sword.] 

Now, old fellow, you pay your taxes ; 

Go home, don't growl at the birds, send me your bad 

cats ! 
[The farmer leaves.] 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 103 

The Snoivy Heron 

Very much it truly grieves us 

That complaint we have to make 

Against many lovely ladies 

Who do wear our wings on hats. 

They would never kill a fine bird, 

But they send a cruel man, 

Send the heartless plume collector. — 

He knows no mercy, 

No beauty respects, 

He heeds not our piercing cry. 

The father he kills, 

The mother he snares, 

And the helpless fledglings 

He starves in the nest. 

He slays us for our beauty 
In weird, lone Everglades, 
In bays and sounds of Georgia, 
On Mexico's lagoons. 

Uncle Sam 

[Wrathfully to a large boy who is provided with a small gun and 
represents the plume-hunter.] 

I will teach that rascal manners ! 
Let me have that little gun ! 

[To the soldier] 
Put him in our iron cage ! 

[The soldier leaves with the plume-hunter and returns after a 
moment.] 



104 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak 

There's another baneful nuisance 
By which we do suffer much, — 
The professional bird collector, 
That bad man who steals our eggs. 
Nothing does he with our bodies, 
No use makes he of our eggs ; 
Just collects for all blood money, 
Or locks all up in his case. 
Little he cares for our habits, 
Nothing cares he for our song, 
All the boys that see him prowling 
Surely take to prowling too. 
Killing, stealing, — he calls taking ; 
Oh, protect us from this fiend ! 

Uncle Sam 

[To the attorneys and the public] 

If you ever catch that knave, 

I'll put him in a dungeon 

Where he'll never hurt bird or beast. 

The Blue-winged or the Green-winged Teal 

It is with no little chagrin 
That we also make complaint 
Against men that go out hunting, 
Against boys that live in camps, 
When their sultry schoolroom closes, 
When blue flags in marshes bloom. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 105 

Sportsmen hunt us in the springtime, 

When we wish to build our nests ; 

From the flower-fringed lakes and rivers 

They drive us to Arctic lands ; 

Northward, northward to Alaska, 

To the wilds of Labrador, 

To the dreary Musk-ox Barrens, — 

Scarcely dare our wings rest there. — 

Sportsmen, do give us a homestead, 

Let us rest in sunny climes ! 

Give us time to raise our children, 

Give them time to learn to fly ! 

Boys and men, when camping, fishing ; 

When you carry guns about, 

Do not shoot at spluttering ducklings, 

Do not shoot at fishing cranes ! 

Let the laughing loon be happy, 

Let the coot play on the pool ! 

Please remember that in summer, 

When j^ou ramble, play, and rest, 

We are also playing, resting ; 

Happy in our harmless way. 

Do not make our breasts the target 

For your deadly ball and shot ! 

Lake, and woods, and pond, and river, — 

Dearly do we love them all. 

Must we leave them sad and lonely ? 

There's no life without the birds ! 



106 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Uncle Sam 

Those men who shoot in the springtime, 

Boys who hunt at summer camps, 

I will gather on my flat boats, 

Land them on a sandy shore, 

In the desert of Sahara. 

They may keep their guns and cannoDS, 

But never even see a crow. 

Th§ Orchard Oriole 

And at last we're sad to mention 

That some schoolboys cause much grief : 

With their sling-shot, with their air-gun, 

With their rifles, snares, and bow, 

And with stones and sticks and missiles 

They cause many a bird despair. 

Teach them that a broken wing bone 

Hurts worse than a broken leg, — 

And Ave cannot call the doctor, 

Mother cannot bandage it. 

Bleeding wounds, which you have caused us, 

Pain us worse than rusty nails 

Driv'n into the feet of children, — 

And we have no balm for wounds. 

If you wound us, if you wing us, 

We must die in agony, 

Or a horrid cat will spy us 

When on bush or lawn we rest. — 

A few scattered, bloody feathers, 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 107 

They tell of your fun and sport, — 
They tell of the robin's death. 

Uncle Sam 

If you have such mean boys with you 
I would like to run them in. 
I will put them in a dark room, 
Where they'll ne'er see sun or moon. 

In a fort on some far island 
I'll build cellars dark and damp. 
They'll be full of salamanders, 
Full of mice and rats and snakes, 
Crawling lizards, cold and clammy, 
With the yellow, blotchy spots. 
That's my place for girls and women 
Who wear murdered birds on hats. 
[At this place, some music or a song should come in.] 



PART SECOND 

The Brown Thrasher 
[Introducing some of the birds.] 
A few of the birds are waiting ; 
They wish to call on the boys, 
They wish to call on the ladies and girls, 
And desire much to see Uncle Sam. 

A Boy 
Let the birds be welcome ! 
They are welcome in our homes, 



108 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Welcome they are in our schoolroom, 
They are welcome everywhere ! 

The Rohm 

1. My clear happj^ voice and my rust-red breast 

Are known to every child ; 
I feel it's quite needless to make an address, 
You 've known me a long, long while. 

2. When you hear me sing from the top of the tree 

On the bright and crisp March morn, 
The baby claps his hands with glee 
And cries, " Oh, the robin has come ! " 
[Boy or girl of eight to fourteen ; boy with brick-red vest, coat and 
trousers brown; girl with brick-red waist and brown skirt, 
high, white collar and brown wings for either boy or girl.] 

The Hummingbird 

1. I am the little hummingbird, 

The tiniest in the hall ; 
My breast and throat are ruby-red, 
I scarce eat bugs at all. 

2. The honey in the columbine, 

The dew on the woodland rose 
That is the food on which I dine, 
I dwell where the wild vine grows. 

3. My home is small as baby's spoon, 

My eggs are snowy white ; 
Where harebells nod and lilies bloom 
You hear my humming flight. 
[Little girl, ruby-red silk collar, waist white, skirt green, wings 
black.] 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 109 

The Wild Canary 

1. The warblers, wrens, and vireo, 

And other little folks 
Too busy are with beak and claw 

On nests in cosy nooks. 
They could not come to meet at the club, 
They sent me to see to the law. 

2. In brier, thorn, and berry bush 

We sing sweet harmony 
Live beauty lend to herb and rush 

All spring and summer day. 
The hawks and owls our twittering mocks, 
As chirping we flit through the rocks. 

3. Wild Canary the children have called me, 

But the bookish and prosy bird-man 
He dryly wrote, " Yellow Warbler," 
I hope his prose will not stand. 
[Boy or girl, entirely in canary yellow.] 

The Catbird 

To call me a Catbird is bad prosy lore, 

Call me Tanglebird rather, 'twill please me much 

more. 
I make little show, my gown is quite plain, 
Tinsel, ribbons, and fashion in the briers are vain. 
I'm a busy housewife and mother, you know, 
But my song is as sweet as any bird's in the show. 



110 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

2. That farmer there says I steal berries and fruit ; 
And for that against me he will enter his suit. 
Now his bushes and shrubs and many a tree 

I keep from great worms and big beetles free 
All the long springtime. Can't he comprehend 
That I take only what is my due from the land ? 

3. The robin, myself, the long-tailed thrush, 

We gladden his heart from twig, vine, and bush. 
His horses and cows surely eat oats and corn 
From almost the very first day they are born. 
Now, my dear old farmer, don't fume and fret, 
You don't pay us half the value you get. 

[Girl of ten to fourteen, entirely in dark slate-gray.] 

The Swallows 

1. Of air and breeze are children we, 

Like summer clouds so light, 
O'er brook and spring and meadow free 
We wind our graceful flight. 

2. From early morn till late at night 

You children laugh and play, 
We swallows rise with morning's light 
And glide about all day. 

3. Pray, boys, do not throw ugly stones 

Into our cabin warm, 
Pray, to our shelves and clay-wrought cones 
Pray, boys, do us no harm. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 111 

4. Oar beak is our trowel, for mortar we took 

From bank and creek and rill, 
With bill and feet we must carve the soft rock, 
The sand-bank under the hill. 

5. Our homes on the rafters and under the eaves, 

Break not, like cruel fools. 
In hill, crag, and rock Ave have quarried our caves 
With humble and feeble tools. 

[Girl of eight to twelve, short reddish brown gimp, waist brick- 
red, skirt and wings dark blue.] 

The Bluebird 

I'm loved by all the children, 

I have but little to say ; 
Pray, boys, just keep the sparrows 

And all the cats away. 

[Girl of six to ten, waist reddish brown, skirt and wings mili- 
tary blue.] 

The English Sparrow 

1. Jip, jip, jip ! Who talked about sparrows? 
Who said, Keep the sparrows away? 

You fellows here shooting with arrows 
Couldn't hit the biggest old jay. 

2. I come just from Washington city, 
And there I had the gayest old time ; 
I sang Uncle Sam a fine ditty, — 

He made out my papers in rhyme. 



112 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

3. What's all this noise and chirping, 
Why all this attempt at rhymes ? 
Now stop your trite opera ding-cling, 
Better migrate to pleasanter climes ! 

4. I know you don't much like me, 
But I don't care a grasshopper toe. 
You say I steal fruit and steal berries 
And little peas, cherries, and sloe. 

5. You claim I frighten all beauty, 
I drive all the song birds away. 

Now, if your poor natives can't fight me, 
Why don't they in deep forests stay ? 

6. Some songster has prayed to the chaps here,- 
I never do a thing like that ; 

I'm not afraid of the chaps here, 
I'm not afraid of the cat. 

7. Your cats and brats and whining kids 
Are all much too stupid for me. 

With sharp, stout bill and genuine wits 
We chirp away, naughty and free. 

8. You hate me in parks and premise ; 
Why not give me notice to quit, 
And after you give me the notice, 
Why don't you see that I " git " ? 

9. As soon as the season opens, 
We shall no more patiently wait, 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 113 

We'll steal a free ride to the Klondyke, 
And there we will practice to skate. 

10. In fall, oh, fine fighting business ! 
For Cuba and 'Rico aboard ! 

At 'Lulu we spend merry Christmas, 
And then for Manila we start. 

11. And now, I see 3^011 look weary, 
Please, let me get out of this crowd ! 
Feel hungry, must eat and keep cheery, 
Hear the other Chips calling me loud ! 

[A bold, saucy boy of six to ten : gray vest, coat and trousers brown.] 

The Chippie 

1. I am the little brown chippie, 
I dwell in your clematis vine ; 
Know little song and less music, 
Just love to live near mankind. 

2. In April's drizzle and shower, 
In floAvers and roses of June, 
'Mid golden leaves of October 
You hear my frolicking tune. 

[Girl of six to ten, entirely in brown, with reddish-brown cap.] 

The Great Blue Heron 

1. I believe in proud seclusion 
No whistle and no twitter ; 
I do hate this dire confusion, 
This fuss, and din, and titter. 



114 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

2. Give me silent meditation 

On the marsh and lonely beach ; 
It's in keeping with my station, 
For the crowd, I'm out of reach. 

3. Music ! What do you call music? 

AVhat these hopping pigmies pipe? 
I must say it is too rustic, 
Simply cannot bear the like. 

4. Let the wind roar through the rushes, 

Let the waves plash and the rain ! 
Laugh of loon and scream of eagle, 
Let me hear the bullfrog's strain ! 

5. Boys, who ever saw me fishing, 

Know that I but seldom lurch, 
When I wade to spear the pickerel, 
Catfish, sunfish, pike, and perch. 

6. If you boys would learn of fishing, 

Come and watch me with the brant, 
Near the isle of tall wild cherries, 
With the coot and cormorant. 

7. Boys, if you would master fishing, 

Patience you must have in store. 
Meet me on the Devil's Backbone, 1 
There I'll teach you all the lore. 

[Tall boy of twelve to fourteen, coat and vest slate gray, 
trousers and stockings black, wings slate gray.] 

1 Rido'e of boulders in a lake. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 115 

The Woodpecker 

I am birddom's carpenter. 

Can make the splinters fly ; 

On poles and posts and forest trees 

My merry trade I ply. 

My bill is my chisel, 

My tail is my stool ; 

I'm never tired of climbing. 

For bluebirds, and " daydees," 

And downy owl babies 

I make the woods ringing, 

Cut rafters and railing. 

[Boy of ten to fourteen, with reel cap and collar, white vest, 
trousers black, wings black, with a large white spot.] 

The Bobolink 

1. Eobert of Lincoln is my full name ; 

I sing just for love, not for money or fame. 
My nest on the meadow few boys have found out, 
There I chatter and sing and gambol about ; 
Black, white, and brown are my colors so gay, 
To be sure I'm prettier than any young jay. 

2. Just one favor I will ask you : 
Pray, solemnly promise me 
Not to disturb the blackbirds 
Singing their "okalee." 

The blackbirds with the carmine wings, 
And those with golden heads, 
And grackle, and all on bush and reeds, 
That bathe where the cat-tails swing. 



116 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

3. But most emphatically do I disown 
That laziest of all the birds, 
That rascally fellow with a smart cap in brown 
As cowbird you've known him long. 
He raises his children by hook and by crook, 
Is too lazy to build a nest, 
Imposes on warblers and little folk, 
As a self-invited guest. 

[Boy of eight to twelve, light brown collar, vest black, coat 
white, trousers black, wings black with a large white spot.] 

The Tanager and the Redbird 

Our Father endowed us with color, 
He denied us the music of voice, 
But when you see the redbird's glow 
And the bluebird's azure hues, 
The tanager's scarlet, the indigo's sheen, 
The oriole's orange beneath, — 
Thank him for the gems of Nature, 
The gems of her bridal wreath. 

[Tanager : girl, waist red, skirt black, wings black. Bedbird : 
girl entirely in red, with red cap. One or both may speak. 
If both speak, they must be careful to keep time together.] 

The Quail 

1. In summer I sit on the post and call : 
Be bright, be bright, love light ! 
In winter, dark winter, when the snow does fall, 
Forget not your little Bob White. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 117 

2. Then throw me some wheat, where the worm fence 1 
leans, 
In garden, brush, or field. 
The winter, cold winter leaves Bob White few 

means, — 
Give him of your rich harvest yield. 

[Boy of eight to twelve, dressed in a brown calico w 7 ith white 
markings of any kind, wings of the same material, collar 
white.] 

The Blue Jay 

1. Why do you urchins call a dandy a jay ? 
Forbid them to name me dude ! 

All you pert fellows, I truly must say, 
Are oftentimes painfully rude ! 

2. Sure, I have beauty and a voice not so bad, 
I brighten drear winter days ; 

I'm never more naughty than 'most any lad 
Though bird eggs I need in my plays. 

[Boy of eight to tw r elve, vest light blue, coat and trousers dark 
blue, wings dark blue.] 

The Owl 

1. Whoo-whoo, whoo-whoo, don't talk like big fools ! 
Who will give me a pair of smoked glasses ? 
My ears need some cotton, just reach me a handful ; 
Your noise sounds like brass bands in masses. 

1 The old-time zig-zag fence. 



118 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

2. Report at Hollow Oaks in the dawn, 

I will read you some sense from sound papers. 
But please be as quiet as grass on the lawn, 
I must hear the mice cut their capers. 

[Boy, large or small ; cap, suit, and wings of brown, with white 
figures ; two tufts of brown paper attached to the cap will suggest 
the ear feathers.] 

The Wild Bucks 

1. In reeds and rush and northern rice our mother 

made our home, 
Under her wings Ave slept at night on moss of the 

muskrat's dome, 
And then we learned to dive and swim, 
As never boys could swim, 
And then we fished for crab and leech, 
And played on the sand of the rippled beach. 

2. When the bees have buzzed in the goldenrod long, 
Our wings have grown swift and strong ; 

When the first snow falls on rush and broom, 
We journejr southward with brant and loon. 

[Boy of eight to fourteen, small cap and collar black, vest and 
trousers very light gray, coat black, wings black.] 

The 3£eadow Lark 

1. Snow, cold, and drizzle of coming spring, 
Can never make me cross. 
My heart is ever happy to sing, 
My joy can never be lost. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 119 

2. Of field and fallow I am the bird, 

From post and wire I call. 
To mope or fret I never was heard 
In spring or summer or fall. 

3. When gossamer white in autumn floats, 

When corn and grass stand sear, 
My heart still light, no evil forbodes, 
I still call " Spring of the Year ! " 

4. If storms of life and toilsome strife 

Load you with care and fear, 
Remember the meadow lark's cheerful life, 
The song of " Spring of the Year ! " 

[Girl of ten to fourteen, waist yellow with a crescent of very 
dark brown, skirt and wings a lighter brown.] 

The Baltimore Oriole 

1. Hark, the orioles are calling 
From the spreading elm ! 

No more snow and frost is falling, 
Summer rules the realm. 

2. Color flashes through the bowers, 
Sunlight on the lawn ; 

Winter fled and April showers 
For the south wind's balm. 

3. On the swaying bough they're singing, 
Weaving hammock nests, 



120 OUR NATIVE BIEDS 

Fair sunshine and flowers they're bringing, 
Our resplendent guests. 

[Girl of eight to fourteen, cap black, waist bright orange, skirt 
black with two long yellow triangles tapering upward, wings 
black with white edges.] 

The Child and the Chickadee 

1. Oh, there's the little chickadee bird 

That climbs on our trees, the large and the small. 
Oh, tell me, what do you find on the fir, 
And aren't you afraid you will fall ? 

2. Why child, great beetles, ugly with frowns, 
And spiders and other big cattle. 

I wonder, can't children see the big clowns, 
And can you not hear the bark rattle ? 

3. Now tell me, little birdie so spry, 

Who washes your face so clean and so nice ? 
And do you ever fret, trample, and cry 
When cold water runs in your eyes ? 

4. You babies are the funniest things 
Your mothers could possibly have, 

With pumpkin heads, with big eyes, and no wings ! 
Your questions make chickadees laugh. 

5. In any weather give us a bath ; 
We find it the greatest delight 

To splash, where brooklets are running so fast 
They don't get the time to freeze tight. 



THE BIRDS BEFORE UNCLE SAM 121 

6. Ugh, birdie, birdie, how do you dare ? 
You'll catch a bad cold like dear auntie Ruth. 
And how do you wipe your toes in the air, 
Where's apron and towel for your use ? 

7. Catch cold, rheumatism and apron and what ? 
I know every bug on the shrubs ; 

There are no colds, and no " tisms " on the lot, 
I never catch colds, — I catch bugs. 

8. I never wipe with towels and things ; 
My feet are dry in no time, 

I strip my feathers and fan my wings, 
Then shake them, and fly off to climb. 

9. Now tell, where are the chickadee birds, 
When storms blow and owls hoot at night, 
When wolves prowl after the sheep and the herds, 
I scarcely can sleep for sheer fright ? 

10. Let storm, let wolf, let owl hoot or howl ; 
The snow, let it blow, let it crunch. 
We feel not the storm and we fear not the owl, 
In tree holes we sleep in a bunch. 

[A little girl speaks the child's, a little boy the bird's part. For 
the boy a light gray collar, and vest ; wings, coat, and trousers 
black.] 

Uncle Sam 

If you make the birds as happy 

In your yards, in parks and fields, 

As they are now in your schoolroom, 

You will ever have grateful friends. 



122 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Early on the summer morning 
They will call you, sing to you ; 
Sadly they will part in autumn, 
Gladly come again in spring. — 
Herewith stands the court adjourned. 



Extract from Mr. Hornaday's Report 

" Conclusions Regarding Birds. — Regarding the avian 
fauna of the United States, the following conclusions 
are justified by facts: — 

"1. Throughout about three-fifths of the whole area 
of our country, exclusive of Alaska, bird life in general 
is being annihilated. 

"2. The edible birds, about 144 species, have been, 
and still are, most severely persecuted. 

" 3. In many localities edible birds of nearly all spe- 
cies have become rare, and some important species are 
on the point of general extermination. 

"4. Owing to the disappearance of the true game 
birds, our song and insectivorous birds are now being 
killed for food purposes, and, unless prevented, this 
abuse of nature is likely to become general. 

" 5. The extermination, throughout this country, of 
the so-called 'plume birds' is now practically complete. 

" 6. The persecution of our birds during their nesting 
season, by egg collectors and by boys generally, has 
become so universal as to demand immediate and special 
attention. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. HORNADAY'S REPORT 123 

" 7. Excepting in a few localities, existing measures 
for the protection of birds, as they are carried into effect, 
are notoriously inadequate for the maintenance of a 
proper balance of bird life. 

" 8. Destructive agencies are constantly on the 
increase. 

" 9. Under present conditions, and excepting in a few 
localities, the practical annihilation of all our birds, 
except the smallest species, and within a comparatively 
short period, may be regarded as absolutely certain to 
occur. 1 

" 10. If the present war of extermination is to be term- 
inated, drastic measures must be adopted and resolutely 
carried out ; and the crusade for protection must be 
general. No half-way measures will suffice ; and it is 
to be expected that some of the destroyers will be 
displeased. 

' 'Recommendations Regarding Birds. — While at first 
thought it may seem impossible to propose a series of 
universal laws for bird protection that can save our 
bird fauna from annihilation, even if adopted by the 
different states, we believe it will be found on close 
examination that the task is not nearly so difficult as it 
seems. The difficulty lies, not in the framing of com- 
prehensive measures, but in securing their adoption in 
the various groups of states wherein they are needed. 
The business of securing the enactment of legislation 

i-The protection of migratory birds must be general in order to be 
effective. New Orleans should not rob Cheyenne of the fruit of her 
labors in the field for protection. 



124 OUK NATIVE BIRDS 

is a separate question, and need not be discussed 
here. As to the character of the legislation that 
would be most effective, there are certain demands 
so imperative as to be perfectly obvious, and the laws 
that would satisfy them would be so universally bene- 
ficial, their enactment would be desirable to every 
state and territory, save two or three. They are as 
follows : — 

"1. Prohibit all egg collecting, except under license 
from state game commissioners, and the payment of a 
license fee. 

" 2. Provide for the extermination of the English 
sparrow. 

" 3. Prohibit the sale of dead game, at all seasons. 1 

" 4. Prohibit the killing or capture of wild birds, and 
of quadrupeds, other than fur-bearing animals, for com- 
mercial purposes of any kind. [This will stop the 
slaughter of birds for millinery purposes.] 

" 5. Prohibit all spring shooting. 

" 6. Prohibit the carrying or using of a gun without 
a license. 

" 7. For three years prohibit the killing or capture of 
any birds, except such birds of prey as may be declared 
by the U. S. Biological Survey to be sufficiently noxious 
to merit destruction. The only exception should be in 
favor of persons desiring to collect for scientific pur- 
poses, in moderation, and then only when properly 

1 This has long been earnestly advocated by Forest and Stream, and 
the proposition is constantly gaining advocates. It is also one of the 
planks in the platform of the League of American Sportsmen. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. HORNADAY's REPORT 125 

vouched for by some scientific institution, and duly 
licensed by the state game commissioners. 

" 8. At the end of three years, restrict by legal 
enactment the number of game birds that may be 
taken in one day, or in any given period, by a single 
individual." 

Most of these demands are now embodied in the 
game laws of Minnesota and of several other states. 
Copies of these laws can be secured from the respective 
state game wardens. Since Mr. Hornaday's report 
was written, the cause of bird and game protection 
has made considerable progress and the prospects are, 
on the whole, decidedly encouraging. 



SECTION VII 

GAME PROTECTION FROM THE NATURE LOVER'S 
POINT OF VIEW 

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, 
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught. 

The wise for cure on exercise depend ; 
God never made his work for man to mend. 

Dryden, Cymon and Ipliigenia. 

It is not necessary to argue game and fish protec- 
tion with the intelligent and broad-minded sportsmen. 
They have long become aware that the treasures of 
large and of small game mammals, of aquatic and gal- 
linaceous birds, and of game fish which nature has so 
lavishly bestowed upon this country are nevertheless 
far from inexhaustible. In fact, none of nature's treas- 
ures are inexhaustible, when greed, folly, and ignorance 
form the exploitation company and begin, as they al- 
ways do, by cutting down the trees that bear the golden 
apples. Much progress has been made within recent 
years for the sportsmen and by them. The League of 
American Sportsmen has already been organized in 
thirteen states, and it will not be long before this so- 
ciety will extend its work to every state and territory. 

Is it Right to Hunt and Fish ? — Many a lover of 
nature and many a parent and teacher has no doubt 
asked himself : Is it right to take animal life for sport 
and recreation ? Should I buy my boy the gun that 

126 



GAME PKOTECTION 127 

lie is so longing for and which he would value higher 
than all the wealth and glory of Solomon ? Most of 
ns concede that it is right to kill animals for food and 
clothing, and to enslave them to do our heavy work. 
These points we must concede or turn vegetarians, and, 
if all mankind became vegetarian they would have to 
kill a few animals now and then or the animals would 
kill them and crowd them off the earth. As a food sup- 
ply, wild mammals and birds are of importance only in 
frontier settlements. If we kill and eat wild or tame 
animals, we destroy a lower form of life so that a higher 
form may continue. This is in general the course of 
nature. If the fatigued business man, statesman, and 
professional man leave the bustle of the city, the dust, 
and the artificial light of their offices to gain new health 
and elasticity of mind and body on bass and trout 
streams, or with the wild ducks on the weird sea-coast 
and inland marshes, or on a stalk after deer and moose 
in the wild woods, they do nothing wrong. On the 
contrary they make the wild creatures of woods, lakes, 
fields, and stream serve a far higher purpose than he 
who kills them merely to satisfy the cravings of a hun- 
gry stomach. If the President of the United States 
can keep in good health and buoyant spirits by going 
on a duck-shooting trip, so that he can more safely steer 
the nation through all the vicissitudes of national and 
international difficulties, by all means let him go after 
the ducks, whenever his duties permit. The ducks he 
bags could not be sacrificed for a more worthy purpose. 
The question has still another aspect. If game wQre 



128 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

not hunted for sport, it would be hunted for profit by 
the market hunter. Thus a few men would benefit, 
while the large number would be excluded. In some 
localities birds and beasts of prey would greatly in- 
crease, and in other regions game animals would have 
to be destroyed to prevent damage to agricultural or 
stock-raising interests. 

Therefore, if you feel inclined to use gun and rod, 
follow your inclination, but obey the game laws, so that 
the next man will also have some recreation left, in other 
words : Don't be a game hog or a fish hog ! If your 
boy wants a gun, by all means buy him one if you can 
afford it, but have him taught how to handle it, and 
what is game and what is not. A week after chickens, 
ducks, or deer will do you more good than all the pills 
you can buy and eat in a twelvemonth. 

Every one who has looked into the question knows 
that real sportsmen kill their game more humanely 
than market hunters, head, skin or bounty hunters. 
A man who hunts wolves and coyotes for bounty is, 
however, doing good work for the sportsmen as well as 
for farmers and stock-raisers. 

If you go into fields and woods for sport, do not shoot 
unless you have a reasonable chance to kill, and always 
try to procure the animal you have wounded. A sports- 
man is not a savage, he leaves something for his neigh- 
bor, and does not kill and catch more than he can use. 
A sportsman never shoots a doe and starves the suck- 
ling fawn, he never kills the mother bird and starves the 
nestlings. Nor would he think of snaring or trapping 



GAME PROTECTION 129 

any wild creature in a way that would prolong its misery 
for hours, or even for days. 

The sportsman does not forget that animals have 
rights. Every species, except a parasite, has the right 
to exist, and true sportsmen have always been ready to 
protect species threatened by extermination. The 
scientist and the lover of nature can view only with 
feelings of the deepest concern and regret, the disappear- 
ance of any species from our fauna or flora. The fauna 
of the earth is already much impoverished by the extinc- 
tion of many large mammals and birds both on this and 
other continents. Many of the large mammals of the 
Quaternary period have most likely been exterminated 
by prehistoric man. Several nations, including the 
United States, have established reservations which fur- 
nish an asylum for the wild creatures of the land. In 
this country we have the Yellowstone Park, and there 
are no reasons why forest reserves should not furnish an 
undisturbed breeding ground for large game. The 
German government has established in its African 
possessions forest reserves for the African elephant and 
other large game. 

It goes without argument that every lover of nature 
would like to see all our wild animals preserved from 
extinction. This protection is, however, of special 
interest to all bird lovers, and they should, therefore, 
do all in their power to further the cause of game and 
fish protection. 

As has already been shown in a previous chapter, the 
extinction of game birds would undoubtedly be followed 



130 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

by the hunting of song birds. But while we have game 
fish to angle, and mammals and real game birds to 
hunt, the shooting of song birds is looked upon as small 
and disgraceful, and popular opinion can easily be 
educated to stigmatize it as contemptible and criminal. 
Laws protecting song birds would be much more diffi- 
cult to enforce after our fish and game had become ex- 
tinct. In England, Germany, France, and Austria, 
laws for the protection of song birds, even if rigidly 
observed, are only partially effective, because in several 
South European countries these same protected birds 
are caught, netted, and killed by tens of thousands 
during the fall and spring migrations. There is no 
game left in these countries, and it will take decades 
before the people there will appreciate the value and 
the ethics of bird protection. 

Everyone interested in game protection should join 
the League of American Sportsmen. Drop a post card 
for information to the L. A. S. Warden in your state, 
or to the League of American Sportsmen, 19 West 24th 
Street, New York. 

This is a matter in which all grades and classes of 
schools should be interested, but I regret to say that 
not many teachers have even begun to do their duty 
towards the birds and our wild kindred. I hope that 
in the near future the League of American Sportsmen 
may devise a plan by which boys in high schools, 
normal schools, and academies, and young men in 
college may join the league for a nominal sum, — 
which should entitle them to membership until they 



GAME PROTECTION 131 

have begun to earn money for themselves. One dollar 
a year is a small fee, but it is a large sum for a school- 
boy and for many college students. The league must 
get the boys, and many of them will join if the right 
terms are offered. 

Hunting with a Camera 
If hunting with a gun is against your taste, then 
hunt with a camera. You can then shoot in your yard 
and in city parks, you can hunt at any time of the year, 
and you will never need to harm any living creature. 
Hunting with a camera calls for even greater zeal and 
endurance than hunting with gun and rifle, and is an 
outdoor sport that cannot be too highly recommended 
to girls and ladies as well as to men and boys. 

The average American men are as strong and as 
robust as the men of any European nation. It has 
been doubted by people who have had opportunities for 
observing that the average American woman is as 
strong as her European sister. Our boys practice all 
kinds of sports and athletics, our girls are too much 
confined to an indoor life. 

Let them accompany their brothers and friends into 
woods and fields and experience the buoyancy of rough- 
ing it. There can be nothing unwomanly in hunting 
with a camera. 

See: H. S. Salt. "Animals' Rights." The Macmillan Com- 
pany, New York and London. The author condemns hunting 
entirely. He says, a The sportsman being, in the great majority 
of instances, a man of slow perception, he naturally finds it much 
easier to follow the hounds than to follow an argument." 



132 our native birds 

The Purpose and the Principles of the League 
of American Sportsmen 

The League of American Sportsmen is organized for 
the purpose of protecting the game and game fishes ; 
the song, insectivorous, and other innocent birds, not 
classed as game birds. 

Its prime object is to enforce game laws, where such 
exist, and to secure and enforce such laws where not 
now in existence. 

It aims to promote good fellowship among sportsmen ; 
to foster in the minds of the people a love of nature 
and of nature's works ; to encourage the propagation 
of game and game fishes, and the re-stocking of game 
fields and public Avaters. To these ends it will act in 
unison with state, county, and municipal authorities 
who aim at similar ends. 1 

The League of American Sportsmen will not com- 
pete with any other organization that has similar 
objects in view. On the contrary, it desires to enlist 
the sympathies of, and to cooperate with, all such. 

The League of American Sportsmen is opposed to 
excessive slaughter of game and fish, under the name 
of sport. We are opposed to the killing of any inno- 

1 A person knowing of violations of the game laws should promptly 
notify the L. A. S. game warden or the respective state game warden, 
who may be addressed in the following manner : — 
State Game Warden, 

St. Paul, Minn. 
The office of the state game warden is nearly always at the state 
capital. 



GAME PROTECTION 133 

cent bird or animal, which is not game, in the name of 
sport, or in wantonness, or for commercial purposes. 

We are opposed to the sale of game and game fishes, 
at all times and under all circumstances. 

We believe in reasonable bags. We believe the kill- 
ing of game and the taking of fish should be limited by 
law, not only as to seasons, but that the bag for any 
one man for a day, and for a season, should be defined 
by law. 

We believe in a gun-license law, with severe penal- 
ties for violations thereof. 

We, as individual members of this League, pledge 
ourselves to work for the education of the public, and 
especially of our boys, on the lines indicated above ; to 
cooperate with our officers, and with state or municipal 
officers, in the enforcement of game law T s, whenever an 
opportunity offers. 

Extract from the Constitution of the L. A. S. 

article I 

Section 1. This organization shall be known as the 
League of American Sportsmen. 

Sec. 2. Its objects shall be the preservation and 
propagation of game and game fishes, of song and 
insectivorous birds and of forests ; the education of 
men, women and children to a love of nature and of 
nature's works ; to a proper respect for game laws and 
to a proper abhorrence for the custom so prevalent to- 



134 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

day, among men and boys, of killing every living thing 
found in the woods, for the mere sake of killing. 

ARTICLE III 

Sec. 2. Any woman may become an associate member 
by complying with the provisions of Section 1. Associate 
members shall have all the privileges of the League except 
those of voting and holding office. 

Sec. 3. All ministers of the gospel and all teachers in 
universities, colleges, public or private schools who will 
pledge themselves to cooperate with the League of Ameri- 
can Sportsmen in educating their people to respect game 
and fish laws and to aid in the preservation of birds, mam- 
mals, fishes and forests, shall, on application, be made hon- 
orary members of the L. A. S. 

Officers of the League of American Sportsmen 

President, G. O. Shields, 19 West Twenty-fourth street, New 
York. 1 

1st Vice-President, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Washington, D.C. 

2d Vice-President, E. S. Thompson, 144 Fifth avenue, New 
York. 

3d Vice-President, Hon. W. A. Richards, General Land Office, 
Washington, D.C. 

4thVice-President, W. T. Hornaday, 69 Wall street, New York. 

5th Vice-President, A. A. Anderson, 93 Fifth avenue, New York. 

Secretary, Arthur F. Rice, 155 Pennington avenue, Passaic, N.J. 

Treasurer, F. S. Hyatt, National Exchange Bank, 90 West 
Broadway, New York. 

General Counsel, Julius H. Seymour, 35 Wall street, New York. 

1 Taken from Becreation, October, 1899. 



GAME PROTECTION 135 

New York Division. 
A. E. Pond, Chief Warden, 124 Fifth avenue, New York. 

Pennsylvania Division. 
C. P. Emerson, Chief Warden, 189 North Perry street, Titus ville. 

New Jersey Division. 
A. W. Van Saun, Chief Warden, Pompton Plains. 

Massachusetts Division. 
Dr. Heber Bishop, Chief Warden, 4 Post-office square, Boston „ 

Connecticut Division. 
Ralph B. Lawton, Chief Warden, Bridgeport. 

Michigan Division. 
J. Elmer Pratt, Chief Warden, Grand Rapids. 

Montana Division. 
Professor M. J. Elrod, Chief Warden, Missoula. 

Washington Division. 
J. S. Stangroom, Chief Warden, New Whatcom. 

Wyoming Division. 
Dr. Frank Dunham, Chief Warden, Lander. 

Wisconsin Division. 
James T. Drought, Chief Warden, Milwaukee. 

Ohio Division. 
L. H. Reutinger, Chief Warden, Athens. 

Illinois Division. 
H. W. Loveday, Chief Warden, Schiller Building, Chicago. 

Minnesota Division. 

S. A. Smart, Chief Warden, G. N. Gen. Office, St. Paul. 

Applications for membership and orders for badges should be ad- 
dressed to Arthur F. Rice, Secretary, 19 West Twenty fourth street, 
New York. For a list of Local Wardens see Recreation. 



136 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



Extracts from Mr. Hornaday's Report 



1 Species Reported as ' Extinct, ' or l Becoming Extinct/ 



Mammals. 

" The larger quadrupeds, generally 

Bison; Buffalo (Bos americanus) .... 

Elk; Wapiti (Cervus canadensis) . 

Moose (A Ices americana) 

Virginia, or White-tailed Deer (Cariacus virginianus) 
Mule Deer (Cariacus macrotis) .... 
Black-tailed Deer (Cariacus columbianus) 
Woodland Caribou (Eangifer caribou) 
Prong-horned Antelope (Antilocapra americana) . 
Mountain Sheep (Oris montana) .... 
Mountain Goat (Haploceros montanus) 

' Bears, generally,' 

California Grizzly Bear (Ursus horribilis horriceus) 
Black Bear (JJrsus americanus) .... 

Jaguar (Felis onca) 

Puma; Mountain Lion (Felis concolor) 

Red Lynx (Lynx rufus) 

Otter (Lutra canadensis) ..... 
Beaver (Castor canadensis) 



6 reports. 
15 reports. 
22 reports. 

7 reports. 
32 reports. 

3 reports. 

1 report. 

2 reports. 
15 reports. 

10 reports. 
2 reports. 

1 report. 

2 reports. 
15 reports. 

1 report. 
6 reports. 
5 reports. 

11 reports. 
22 reports. 



Birds. 

" All birds, generally 3 reports. 

Game birds, generally (meaning gallinaceous species) . 5 reports. 

Shore birds, generally 5 reports. 

Geese and ducks, generally .20 reports. 

Herons and egrets, generally ; plume birds . . .12 reports. 

Hawks, generally 3 reports. 

Owls, generally 4 reports. 



GAME PROTECTION 



137 



Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) 
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) 
Pinnated Grouse; Prairie Hen (Tympanuchus amerl 
canus) ....... 

Heath Hen (Tympaiuichns cupido) 
Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes ?nigratorius) . 
Bluebird (Sialia sialis) .... 

Carolina Paroquet (Cotiurus carolinensis) 
Wood Duck (Aix sponsd) .... 

Flamingo (Phcenicopterus ruber) . 

Roseate Spoonbill {Ajaja ajaja) . 

White Heron (Ardea candidissimd) 

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) 

Pileated Woodpecker (Ceophlceus pileatus) 

California Vulture (Pseudogryphus calif or nianus) 



30 reports. 
20 reports. 

13 reports. 

1 report. 
35 reports. 
15 reports. 

5 reports. 

5 reports. 

1 report. 

3 reports. 
10 reports. 

1 reports. 

4 reports. 
1 report. 



" From a mucli larger number of birds and mammals 
than are included in the above lists, these have been 
selected because there is good reason to believe that, 
under present conditions, they are all certain to become 
practically extinct throughout the whole United States 
within a few years. For the majority of the above, 
total extinction — which means the death of the last 
individual of a species or race — probably is far away. 
The qualified term, practical extinction, now destined 
to come into very general use, may properly be applied 
to any species which has become so rare in a state of 
nature that it is an impossibility to discover living 
representatives by seeking for them. The larger and 
more conspicuous the quadruped or bird, the more 
quickly it is exterminated. All persons who have 
any regard for the preservation of the few wild herds 



lo8 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

of elk, antelope, deer, mountain sheep, and other c big 
game ' mammals that still exist in our country, should 
be warned by the fate of the great northern herd of 
American bison, and act in time. In 1880 it was esti- 
mated by the hunters and fur-buyers of Montana that 
4 the buffalo range ' of Montana, Wyoming, and west- 
ern Dakota contained five hundred thousand buffaloes ; 
and I think the estimate was not over the mark. On 
June 1, 1883, less than four hundred individuals re- 
mained ; and it was several years before the people of 
the United States awoke to a realization of the fact that 
the great buffalo herds were actually and absolutely 
gone! With the fate of the buffalo before our eyes, it 
requires no seer to predict, with absolute certainty, that 
unless thorough and drastic measures are immediately 
taken to preserve the remnants of our once splendid 
herds of game quadrupeds, and flocks of game birds, 
a very few years more — we will say ten for some and 
fifteen for others — will find our country without enough 
wild representatives of those species to stock a zoologi- 
cal garden. 

" Conclusions Regarding Western Mammals. — 
" 1. Throughout the whole region west of the Missis- 
sippi River, except in the Yellowstone Park and Colo- 
rado, all the large quadrupeds, save gray wolves and 
coyotes, are being shot down several times faster than 
they multiply. 

" 2. Under existing conditions, their general annihila- 
tion within a few years' time (save in the two localities 
noted) may be regarded as a certainty. 



GAME PROTECTION 139 

" 3. Outside of areas actually protected, the prong- 
horned antelope will be the next large species to disap- 
pear; and it will be closely followed by the mountain 
sheep, mountain goat, California grizzly bear, beaver, 
elk, and mule deer. 

"4. It should be accepted as a fixed fact that any 
western state or territory so sparsely settled that large 
quadrupeds can successfully hide and breed in its wil- 
derness areas, is not financially able to employ a force of 
salaried game wardens large enough to maintain surveil- 
lance over all persons who are inclined to kill game. 

" 5. The professional guides and hunters, the ranch- 
men and other country residents of the Rocky Mountain 
and Pacific Coast regions, are the only men who have it 
within their poiver, or ivho ever ivill have it ivithin their 
poiver, to save our noblest species of ivild game animals 
from complete annihilation. 

" 6. These men are the ones who will lose most, both 
in money and in food, by the destruction of the game 
animals that now furnish them a valuable source of 
revenue. 

"Recommendations Regarding Mammals. — 1. As a 
matter of duty to their own interests, the guides, 
hunters, ranchmen, and sportsmen of the Eocky Moun- 
tain and Pacific Coast regions should assemble and 
decide what restrictions shall be placed upon the kill- 
ing of large game — as to the number of head per man 
that may be taken, license fees and fines, and as to the 
necessity of total prohibition for given periods. 

" 2. Every state and territory now inhabited by large 



140 OTIR NATIVE BIRDS 

game should immediately enact a law prohibiting the 
killing of any female hoofed animal, under any and all 
circumstances, and also prohibiting the killing of any 
hoofed animal less than one year old. 

"3. Throughout every state and territory now in- 
habited b}^ them, the killing of antelope, mountain 
sheep and mountain goats should be absolutely pro- 
hibited for ten years ; and the possession of a fresh 
skin or head should be regarded as prima facie evi- 
dence of violation of law. 

"4. Henceforth every person visiting the Western 
regions in quest of large game should regard it as his 
duty to cooperate with state and territorial authorities 
in the observance and enforcement of the game laws, to 
kill sparingly at all times, and under no circumstances 
to shoot female or yearling animals. 

" 5. No guide should conduct a hunting party in 
quest of game unless each member of it pledged him- 
self to observe the rules of moderation in shooting that 
now are morally binding upon all. 

" 6. In view of the alarming decrease of our large 
game animals, it is time for the adoption throughout 
the United States of an unwritten law that any man 
who kills a female hoofed animal is not to be considered 
a true and honorable sportsman. 

" 7. Every state and territory containing large game 
should collect a license fee on each gun carried or used 
in hunting ; and all funds derived from this source and 
from fines should be used in payment of the salaries of 
game wardens. 



GAME PROTECTION 141 

" 8. The sale of dead game should be prohibited. 

" There are few persons, intelligent or otherwise, who 
will deny the desirability of preserving from destruc- 
tion the splendid vertebrate fauna which still inhabits 
our country. Throughout the whole United States, 
the love of natural history, and -interest in zoological 
studies — and their promotion — is growing at a rapid 
rate. 

" If all the people of this country were assembled, and 
a rising vote taken on the question — Are our birds 
and mammals worth preserving? we believe nearly 
every man, woman and child would stand up to be 
counted. Even the worst destroyers believe in limit- 
ing the destructiveness of others ! Thanks to the 
extent of our territory, and the diversity of its physical 
aspect, our mammalian and avian faunas are still ex- 
ceedingly rich and varied, as well as interesting and 
valuable. With the exception of a few noxious 
species, our wild creatures are well worth preserving, 
and their further annihilation would be nothing less 
than a national disgrace. And even though we of 
to-day should feel little interest in the preservation of 
the animal life indigenous to North America, it must 
be remembered that we owe a ditty to succeeding gener- 
ations, and we have no right to rob those who come 
after us of the wealth of living forms that Nature has 
so lavishly bestowed upon this continent, and main- 
tained in great abundance until fifteen years ago. The 
zoological estate now in our possession is not ours in 
fee simple, but by inheritance under entail ; and it must 



142 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

be transmitted to those who come after us, in a good 
state of preservation. 

" Beyond all possibility of dispute, the time has now 
arrived when it is the duty of all American zoologists, 
all our academies of science, zoological societies and 
museums, and all our higher institutions of learning, to 
unite and become actively and aggressively interested 
in comprehensive measures for protection. In co-opera- 
tion with the Audubon Society of the State of New 
York, the American Museum of Natural History, 
through its President and through Dr. J. A. Allen and 
Mr. Frank M. Chapman, is already, and for the past 
year has been, actively engaged in measures designed 
to save our remaining birds from annihilation. Dur- 
ing the last twelve months, the Audubon Society has 
sent out 35,000 circulars, and solicited active assistance 
from over 300 newspapers in this state. 

"It seems to us that the United States Biological 
Survey, the Smithsonian Institution, the Philadelphia 
Academy of Sciences, the American Museum of Natural 
History, the New York Zoological Society, Yale Uni- 
versity, Harvard University, Cornell University, the 
Field Museum and the Leland Stanford University, 
each should employ a competent man, provide him 
with a fair allowance for expenses, and instruct him to 
devote his entire time and energy to the business of 
securing adequate protective laws throughout the whole 
United States, and in furthering all legitimate measures 
for the protection of birds and mammals. It is reason- 
able to believe that four good men could enter the 



GAME PROTECTION 143 

Rocky Mountain region, bring together the guides and 
ranchmen, and in less than two years accomplish results 
of great and lasting benefit. 

" We believe that the time is ripe for a general rebel- 
lion against the forces of destruction. We believe that 
the American people will yet rise to the seriousness of 
the situation, and bring about a complete revolution in 
behalf of 'the protection of our native animals,' which 
is one of the prime objects for which the New York 
Zoological Society was founded." 



SECTION VIII 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 

I. Magazines 

1. Recreation. Published by G. O. Shields, 19 West Twenty- 
fourth street, New York. §1.00 a year. Monthly. The organ of 
the League of American Sportsmen. On the work and present 
status of the League, see Recreation, April, 1899, and succeeding 
numbers. 

2. Bird Lore. Published by The Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth 
avenue, Xew York. §1.00 a year. Bi-monthly. The magazine is 
devoted to Bird Protection and is the organ of The Audubon 
Societies. 

3. The Auk. Published by L. S. Foster, Xew York City. 
Quarterly. The organ of The American Ornithologists' Union. 
See the report of a Committee on Bird Protection in the January 
number of 1898. 

4. Forest and Stream, Xew York City. Weekly. A paper 
valuable alike to the sportsman and the naturalist. See an inter- 
esting report in Forest and Stream of February 19, 1898, on the 
Interstate Game Wardens' Convention held at Chicago in Febru- 
ary, 1898. 

5. The Forester. Published by The American Forestry Asso- 
ciation, 45 Wyatt Building, Washington, D. C. Monthly. §1.00 
a year. The magazine is devoted to the care and use of forests, 
forest trees and related subjects. It is a very valuable magazine, 
which ought to be in every public and in every school library. 
See Volume IV, 1898, for a large number of interesting and instruc- 
tive articles. 

144 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 145 

6. Our Animal Friends. Published by the American Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Madison avenue and 
Twenty-sixth street, New York. 

7. Our Dumb Animals. Published by the Massachusetts So- 
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 19 Milk street, 
Boston, Mass. The paper is also the organ of the American Hu- 
mane Education Society and of the American Bands of Mercy. 

8. The National Humane Educator, 216 West Fourth street, 
Cincinnati, O. 

Most of these magazines will mail a free sample copy. 

II. Societies 

1. The Audubon Societies. See page 93. Correspondence 
in regard to forming Audubon Societies or other Bird Protective 
Societies may be addressed to Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, Fair- 
field, Conn. 

2. The League of American Sportsmen. See pages 132-135. 

3. The Agassiz Association. For full information write to 
Mr. H. H. Ballard, Pittsfield, Mass., or see the Handbook of the 
Agassiz Association . 

4. Society for the Protection of Birds. Mrs. F. E. Lemon, 
Secretary, Hillcrest, Kedhill, England. Publishing Department, 
326 High Holborn, W. C, England. 

5. Bund der Yogelfreunde, Graz, Austria. 

6. American Humane Education Society. Geo. P. Angell, 
President, 19 Milk street, Boston, Mass. 

7. Bands of Mercy, Geo. P. Angell, President, 19 Milk street, 
Boston, Mass. These bands have been organized among the 
school children of many cities, towns, and country districts. 

8. The Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and 
the Humane Societies. 

Besides the general humane work done by them, 
some of these societies have done very effective work 

L 



146 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

in bird protection. The society of St. Paul, Minn, 
has posted hundreds of the following placard : — 



"$5.00 REWARD 
For information which will lead to the arrest and conviction of 
any person killing or attempting to kill any harmless birds, or 
robbing or destroying the nests thereof. Boys with rubber slings 
or pop-guns are hereby warned. 

HUM AXE SOdETY, 

W. L. Wilsox, President. 
Miss Axxa V. Weight, Secretary. 
Chamber of Commerce Building." 

In Our Dumb Animals of August, 1899, is found the 
following offer : — 

"PROTECTION OF BIRDS 

I hereby offer twenty prizes of 810 each, and forty prizes of 85 
each, for evidence by which our Massachusetts Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shall convict persons of violating 
the laws of Massachusetts by killing any insect-eating bird or 
taking eggs from its nest. 

Geo. T. Axgell, President.'" 

I enclose a list of the most important of these socie- 
ties in the United States and Canada. In many states 
a number of local societies are organized. For these 
and for information about similar societies in foreign 
countries the reader is referred to the report of 1899 of 
the American Society P. C. A., Madison avenue and 
Twenty-sixth street, New York. The list here given 
is taken from that report. Concerning the organization 
and the work of local societies, information can be ob- 
tained from the respective state society. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 147 

Humane Societies in the United States and Canada 

New York. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals. Madison avenue and Twenty-sixth street, New York. 

Alabama. Mobile Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. 16 South Royal street, Mobile. 

Arizona. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
Tucson. 

Arkansas. Humane Society. Little Rock. 

California. The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. 403 Parrott Building, San Francisco. 

Colorado. Colorado Humane Society. 5 Jacobson Building, 
Denver. 

Connecticut. The Connecticut Humane Society. Hartford. 

Delaware. Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. 606 Market street, Wilmington. 

District of Columbia. The Washington Humane Society. 
Room 10, Sun Building, Washington, D. C. 

Florida. St. Augustine Humane Society. St. Augustine. 

Georgia. Georgia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. 1 Mcintosh street, Augusta. 

Illinois. The Illinois Humane Society. 560 Wabash avenue, 
Chicago. 

Indiana. The Indiana Humane Society. 42 Lombard Build- 
ing, Indianapolis. 

Iowa. The Iowa Humane Society. Des Moines. 

Kansas. The Kansas Humane Society. Wichita. 

Kentucky. Kentucky Humane Society for Prevention of 
Cruelty. Masonic Temple, 411 West Green street, Louisville. 

Louisiana. Louisiana State Society for Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals. 606 Commercial place, New Orleans. 

Maine. Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals. 
Portland. 

Maryland. The Maryland Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. 323 North Charles street, Baltimore. 



148 OTJB, NATIVE BIRDS 

Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals. 19 Milk street, Boston. 

Michigan. Michigan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. Detroit. 

Minnesota. St. Paul Society for Prevention of Cruelty. 
Chamber of Commerce Building, St. Paul. 

Mississippi. The Mississippi Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. Natchez. 

Missouri. The Humane Society of Missouri. 506 and 508 
Columbia Building, Eighth and Locust streets, St. Louis. 

Nebraska. The Nebraska Humane Society. 15 Commercial 
National Bank Building, Omaha. 

New Hampshire. New Hampshire Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals. 1 Market street, Portsmouth. 

New Jersey. The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. 507 Prudential Building, Newark. 

New York. The Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society. 
287 State street, Albany. 

North Carolina. The North Carolina Society for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals. 17 Paragon Building, Ashville. 

Ohio. The Ohio Humane Society. 24 East Ninth street, Cin- 
cinnati. 

Oregon. The Oregon Humane Society. 72 Third street, 
Portland. 

Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals. 1627 Chestnut street, Philadelphia. 

Rhode Island. Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. 61 Westminster street, Providence. 

South Carolina. The South Carolina Society for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals. Charleston. 

Tennessee. Tennessee Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals and Children. 337 Mississippi avenue, Memphis. 

Texas. The Galveston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals. Galveston. 

Utah. Utah Humane Society. Salt Lake City. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 149 

Vermont. The Vermont Humane Society. Chester. 

Virginia. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
618 East Main street, Richmond. 

Washington. Tacoma Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals. Chamber of Commerce Building, Tacoma. 

West Virginia. West Virginia Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. Wheeling. 

Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Humane Society. 495 Milwaukee 
street, Milwaukee. 

British North America. The Nova Scotia Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty. 79 Granville street, Halifax. 

The Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
189 St. James street, Montreal. 

Ottawa Humane Society. 83 St. Peter street, Ottawa. 

Quebec Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
Quebec. 

New Brunswick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 
mals. Ferry Building, Water street, St. John. 

St. John's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. St. 
John's, Newfoundland. 

The Winnipeg Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

III. The United States Department of Agriculture 

This department consists of the following divisions : — 
Division of Chemistry. 
Division of Entomology. 
Division of Botany. 

Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. 
Division of Pomology. 
Biological Survey. . 
Division of Soils. 
Office of Experiment Stations. 
Division of Forestry. 
Division of Agrostology. 



150 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

Office of Road Inquiry. 
Experimental Gardens and Grounds. 
Division of Publications. 
The Library. 

Office of Fibre Investigation. 
Bureau of Animal Industry. 
Division of Statistics. 
Section of Foreign Markets. 

The Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, furnishes 
free upon application: 

1. A list of publications for sale at a nominal price. 

2. A list of publications available for free distribution. 

3. A monthly list of new publications. 

Among the most popular government publications are the Farm- 
ers' Bulletins, a list of which is here given, but many other valuable 
publications will be found in the three lists mentioned. 

Farmers' Bulletins 

These bulletins are sent free of charge to any address upon ap- 
plication to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Only 
the following are available for distribution : — 

No. 15. Some Destructive Potato Diseases : What They Are and 
How to Prevent Them. 

No. 16. Leguminous Plants for Green Manuring and for Feed- 
ing. 

No. 18. Forage Plants for the South. 

No. 19. Important Insecticides : Directions for Their Preparation 
and Use. 

No. 21. Barnyard Manure. 

No. 22. Feeding Farm Animals. 

No. 23. Foods : Nutritive Value and Cost. 

No. 24. Hog Cholera and Swine Plague. 

No. 25. Peanuts: Culture and Uses. 

No. 26. Sweet Potatoes : Culture and Uses. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 151 

No. 27. Flax for Seed and Fiber. 

No. 28. Weeds: And How to Kill Them. 

No. 29. Souring of Milk, and Other Changes in Milk Products. 

No. 30. Grape Diseases on the Pacific Coast. 

No. 31. Alfalfa, or Lucern. 

No. 32. Silos and Silage. 

No. 33. Peach Growing for Market. 

Xo. 34. Meats : Composition and Cooking. 

No. 35. Potato Culture. 

No. 36. Cotton Seed and Its Products. 

No. 37. Kafir Corn : Characteristics, Culture, and Uses. 

No. 38. Spraying for Fruit Diseases. 

Xo. 39. Onion Culture. 

No. 40. Farm Drainage. 

No. 41. Folds : Care and Feeding. 

No. 42. Facts About Milk. 

No. 43. Sewage Disposal on the Farm. 

No. 44. Commercial Fertilizers. 

No. 45. Some Insects Injurious to Stored Grain. 

No. 46. Irrigation in Humid Climates. 

No. 47. Insects Affecting the Cotton Plant. 

No. 48. The Manuring of Cotton. 

No. 49. Sheep Feeding. 

Xo. 50. Sorghum as a Forage Crop. 

No. 51. Standard Varieties of Chickens. 

Xo. 52. The Sugar Beet. 

Xo. 53. How to Grow Mushrooms. 

Xo. 54. Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture. 

No. 55. The Dairy Herd : Its Formation and Management. 

No. 56. Experiment Station Work. Yol. I. 

No. 57. Butter Making on the Farm. 

No. 58. The Soy Bean as a Forage Crop. 

Xo. 59. Bee Keeping. 

No. 60. Methods of Curing Tobacco. 

No. 61. Asparagus Culture. 



152 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 

No. 62. Marketing Farm Produce. 

No. 63. Care of Milk on the Farm. 

No. 64. Duels and Geese. 

No. 65. Experiment Station Work. Vol. II. 

No. 66. Meadows and Pastures. 

No. 67. Forestry f o?* Farmers. 

No. 68. The Black Rot of the Cabbage. 

No. 69. Experiment Station Work. Vol. III. 

No. 70. The Principal Insect Enemies of the Grape. 

No. 71. Some Essentials of Beef Production. 

No. 72. Cattle Ranges in the Southwest. 

No. 73. Experiment Station Work. Vol. IV. 

No. 74. Milk as Food. 

No. 75. The Grain Smuts. 

No. 76. Tomato Growing. 

No. 77. The Liming of Soils. 

No. 78. Experiment Station Work. Vol. V. 

No. 79. Experiment Station Work. Vol. VI. 

No. 80. The Peach Twig-borer ; an Important Enemy of Stone 

Fruits. 
No. 81. Corn Culture in the South. 
No. 82. The Culture of Tobacco. 
No. 83. Tobacco Soils. 

No. 84. Experiment Station Work. Vol. VIL 
No. 85. Fish as Food. 
No. 86. Thirty Poisonous Plants. 
No. 87. Experiment Station Work. Vol. VIII. 
No. 88. Alkali Lands. 
No. 89. Cowpeas. 

No. 90. The Manufacture of Sorghum Sirup. 
No. 91. Potato Diseases and Their Treatment. 
No. 93. Sugar as Food. 
No. 94. The Vegetable Garden. 
No. 95. Good Roads for Farmers. 
No. 96, Raising Sheep for Mutton. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 



153 



No. 97. Experiment Station Work. Vol. X. 
No. 98. Suggestions to Southern Farmers. 
No. 99. Three Insect Enemies of Shade Trees. 

IV. Agricultural Experiment Stations 

These stations are now scattered over the United States and 
Canada, and similar stations have long been established in Europe 
and elsewhere. They have published much that is of interest to in- 
telligent citizens, and will do more in the near future. Their publi- 
cations generally refer to special sections of the country, and are 
particularly valuable for those sections. 

List of Agricultural Experiment Stations in the 
United States and Canada 1 

(Address mail to them in the following manner : Agricultural 
Experiment Station, St. Anthony Park, Minn.). 

UNITED STATES 



State. 


Post-office. 


State. 


Post-office. 


Alabama (College) . 
Alabama 

(Canebrake) . . . 

Arizona 

Arkansas .... 
California .... 
Colorado 


xluburn. 

Uniontown. 
Tucson. 
Fayetteville. 
Berkeley. 
Fort Collins. 


Connecticut (State) . 
Connecticut (Storrs) 
Delaware .... 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 


New Haven. 

Storrs. 

Newark. 

Lake City. 

Experiment. 

Moscow. 

Urbana. 



1 A list of publications issued by the stations of the United States prior 
to January 1, 1892, was published in the Experiment Station Record, Vol. 
Ill, p. 937 ; a list of those issued during 1892 and 1893 in Bulletin 19 of the 
Office of Experiment Stations, p. 61 ; a list of those issued during 1894 in 
Bulletin 23, p. 58; a list of those issued for 1895 in Bulletin 27, p. 59; a list 
of those issued for 1896 in Bulletin 39, p. 58, and a list of those issued for 
1897 in Bulletin 47, p. 57. For more information on these stations in the 
United States and other countries, see Bulletin 59, office of Experiment 
Stations. 



154 



OUR NATIVE BIRDS 
UNITED STATES— Concluded 



State. 



Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky .... 
Louisiana (Sugar) 
Louisiana (State) . . 
Louisiana (North) 

Maine 

Maryland .... 
Massachusetts (State) 
Massachusetts (Hatch) 
Michigan 

Minnesota .... 

Mississippi .... 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire . . 
New Jersey (State) . 



Post-office. 



Lafayette. 

Ames. 

Manhattan. 

Lexington. 

New Orleans. 

Baton Rouge. 

Calhoun. 

Orono. 

College Park. 

Amherst. 

Amherst. 

Agricultural 

College. 
St. Anthony 

Park. 
Agricultural 

College. 
Columbia. 
Bozeman. 
Lincoln. 
Reno. 
Durham. 
New 

Brunswick. 



State. 



NewjNIexico . . . 
New York (State) . 
New York (Cornell) . 
North Carolina 
North Dakota . 
Ohio .... 
Oklahoma . . 
Oregon . . . 
Pennsylvania . 
Rhode Island . 
South Carolina 

South Dakota . 
Tennessee . . 
Texas . . . 



Utah . . . . 

Vermont . . 

Virginia . . . 

Washington . 
West Virginia . 

Wisconsin . . 

Wyoming . . 



Post-office. 



Mesilla Park. 

Geneva. 

Ithaca. 

Raleigh. 

Fargo. 

Wooster. 

Stillwater. 

Corvallis. 

State College. 

Kingston. 

Clemson 

College. 
Brookings. 
Knoxville. 
College 

Station. 
Logan. 
Burlington. 
Blacksburg. 
Pullman. 
Morgantown. 
Madison. 
Laramie. 



CANADA. 



Province. 


Post-office. 


Province. 


Post-office. 


Manitoba 

N. W. Territory . . 
British Columbia . . 


Brandon. 
Indian Head. 

Agassiz. 


Nova Scotia .... 
Ontario 


Nappan. 
Ottawa. 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 155 

A Few Bird Books Helpful to the Beginner 

1. Wright. Birdcraft. The Macmillan Company, New York. 

2. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. Houghton, Mifflin & 

Company, Boston, Mass. 

3. Grant. Our Common Birds and How to Know Them. Charles 

Scribner's Sons, New York. 

4. Blanchan. Bird Neighbors, Doubleday & McClurg Company, 

Boston, Mass. 

5. Blanchan. Birds that Hunt and are Hunted. Doubleday & 

McClurg Company, Boston, Mass. 

6. Wright. Citizen Bird. The Macmillan Company, New York. 

7. Baskett. The Story of the Birds. D. Appleton & Company, 

Xew York. 

8. Jordan. Manual of the Vertebrates. A. C. McClurg & Com- 

pany, Chicago. This book gives keys and brief descrip- 
tions of all vertebrates known in the Northern United 
States. For other valuable but more expensive books 
on birds, see the catalogues and advertisements of 
publishers. 



156 OUR NATIVE BIRDS 



God made the country, and man made the town; 
What wonder, then, that health and virtue, gifts 
That can alone make sweet the bitter draught 
That life holds out to all, should most abound 
And least be threatened in the fields and groves. 

William Cowper. 



INDEX 



[Binomials are indexed twice. Publications mentioned in the text are indexed under 
author and title, except those mentioned in foot-notes and under " Miscellaneous 
Information," which are not indexed.] 



A boy (verse), 107. 

Adults, educating, 92. 

Agricultural experiment stations, 
153. 

Agriculture, United States depart- 
ment of, 149. 

Attracting song birds to our homes, 
19. 

Audubon societies, directory of, 93. 

B 

Bailey. The Birds and I, 40. 

Baltimore oriole (verses) , 119. 

Barb wire coil, tree trunk with 
(figure), 36. 

Basin, floating bird (figure), 45. 

Basins, bathing and drinking, con- 
struction of, 43 ; floating, 44. 

Bathing fountains, 42. 

Baths, dust, 62. 

Bird and arbor day law of Minne- 
sota, 94. 

Bird basin, floating (figure), 45. 

Bird books, 155. 

Bird census, difficult to take, 5. 

Bird census of the United States, 1 ; 
compiled by W. T. Hornaday, 1. 

Bird day in the schools, 98. 

Bird hunters, 85. 

Bird island at Giessen, 29. 

Bird Life, cause of decrease in, Hor- 
naday's report, 11. 

Bird Protection, Wild. Masefield, 40. 

Bird students, boys, and collectors, 
8. 



Birds and mammals, injurious, 10. 

Birds and mammals extinct or be- 
coming extinct, Hornaday's report, 
136. 

Birds before Uncle Sam, 99-122. 

Bird's Christmas tree (figure), 57. 

Birds, are the, decreasing, 1 ; con- 
clusions regarding, Hornaday's 
report, 122; decrease of, in per 
cent, 2 ; education and the, 92 ; es- 
timate of, for Minnesota, 3 ; feed- 
ing house for (figure) , 60 ; feeding 
in public parks, 61 ; feeding in 
winter, 46-61 ; game, the decrease 
of, 13 ; list of, from Brattleboro, 
Vt., 53-55 ; list of, from Cheyenne, 
"Wy., 79, 80; on hats, 9, 81; pro- 
tecting the, against cats, 64-67; 
protecting the, from their natural 
enemies, 64 ; recommendations re- 
garding, Hornaday's report, 123; 
tree planting for, general sugges- 
tions on, 28. 

Birds, song, as food, 90; causes for 
the decrease of, 6 ; protecting 
them, etc., 19. 

Birds, The, and I. Bailey, 40. 

Bittersweet, false (figure) , 23. 

Black stork of Europe, 16. 

Bluebirds, nesting boxes for, 37; 
(verse), 111. 

Blue heron, great (verses), 113. 

Blue jay (verses), 117. 

Blue-winged or green-winged teal 
(verse), 104. 

Boards, elevated, 58. 

Bobolink (verses), 115. 



157 



158 



INDEX 



Bond, Frank, on fighting the Eng- 
lish sparrow, 75-77. 

Books, bird, 155. 

Borggreve. Die Vogelschutzfrage, 
63. 

Botany, Manual of. Coulter, 22; 
Gray, 22. 

Botany of California. Whitney and 
Watson, 22. 

Boxes, nesting ; provide, 33. 

Boy, a (verse), 107. 

Boys, collectors, and so-called bird 
students, 8. 

Bracket shelves for swallows, 38. 

Branching, species with copious, 24. 

Britton and Brown. Illustrated 
Flora, 22. 

Brown, Britton and. Illustrated 
Flora, 22. 

Brown thrasher (verse), 107. 

Buck, Parson and. The Wild Flow- 
ers of California, 22. 

Bulletins, farmers', 150. 

Burning-bush (figure) , 31. 



California, Botany of. Whitney and 
Watson, 22; The Wild Flowers of. 
Parson and Buck, 22. 

Camera, hunting with a, 131. 

Canary, wild (verses), 109. 

Carrion places, 59. 

Catbird (verses), 109. 

Cat-proof fence (figure) , 67. 

Cats causing decrease of birds, 8. 

Cats, protecting birds against, 64-67. 

Causes for the decrease of song 
birds, 6. 

Causes of decrease in bird life, 
Hornaday's report, 11. 

Cedar, red ; burning-bush and (fig- 
ure), 31. 

Census, bird ; difficult to take, 5 ; of 
the United States, 1. 

Chapman. Flora of the Southern 
United States, 22. 

Cheyenne, Wy., list of birds from, 
79, 80. 



Chickadee, child and (verses), 120. 

Chickadees, nesting boxes for, 36. 

Child and chickadee (verses) , 120. 

Chipmunks, squirrels and, 68. 

Chippie (verses), 113. 

Christmas tree, birds' (figure), 57. 

Coil, tarred rope, VS. 

Collectors, 84. 

Collectors, boys, and so-called bird 
students, 8. 

Concluding remarks on nesting 
boxes, 40. 

Conclusions regarding birds, Horna- 
day's report, 122. 

Conclusions regarding Western 
mammals, Hornaday's report, 
138. 

Construction of bathing and drink- 
ing basins, 43. 

Copious branching, species with, 24. 

Coulter. Manual of Botany, 22. 

Creepers, nesting boxes for, 37. 

Crows, 70. 

D 

Dana, Mrs. How to know the Wild 

Flowers, 22. 
Davenport, Mrs. Elizabeth B, on 

feeding birds in winter, 46-53. 
Decrease, causes of ; in bird life, 

Hornaday's report, 11. 
Decrease of birds, per cent of, 2. 
Decrease of game birds, the, 13. 
Decrease of song birds, causes for 

the, 6. 
Dense foliage and fruit, species of- 
fering, 26. 
Dense foliage, species with, 24. 
Department of agriculture, 149. 
Desirable species; on account of 

fruit, 25. 
Directions, general, for nesting 

boxes, 33. 
Directory of Audubon societies, 

93, 94. 
Dogs, 67. 
Drinking and bathing fountains, 

42. 
Duck, wood ; nesting boxes for, 39. 



INDEX 



159 



Ducks, wild (verses), 118. 
Dust baths, 02. 

E 

Educating adults, 92. 

Educating the growing generation, 

96. 
Education and the birds, 92. 
Elevated boards, 58. 
Enemies, natural, protecting the 

birds from their, 6-i. 
English sparrow, the, 9. 
English sparrow kept in check at 

Cheyenne, Wy., 75-79. 
English sparrow question, 72-79. 
English sparrow (verses), 111. 
Estimate of birds for Minnesota, 3. 
Europe, black stork of, 16. 
Evening grosbeaks eating snow, 43. 
Evergreens, planting of, 20. 
Experiment stations, agricultural, 

153. 



False bittersweet (figure) , 23. 

Farmers' bulletins, 150. 

Feeding birds in public parks, 61. 

Feeding birds in winter, 46-61. 

Feeding house for birds (figure), 60. 

Feeding partridges, 59. 

Feeding-places, special, 58. 

Feeding prairie chickens, 59. 

Feeding quail, 59. 

Feeding ruffed grouse, 59. 

Fence, cat-proof (figure), 67. 

Fence of wire netting, 65. 

Field places, 58. 

Fish and hunt, is it right to, 126. 

Floating basins, 44. 

Floating bird basin (figure) , 45. 

Flora, Illustrated. Britton and 
Brown, 22. 

Flora of the Southern United States. 
Chapman, 22. 

Flowers for hummingbirds, 27. 

Flowers, Wild, How to know the. 
Mrs. Dana, 22; Wild, of Califor- 
nia. Parson and Buck, 22. 

Flycatchers, shelf and laths for, 38. 



Foliage, dense, and fruit, species 
offering, 26; species with dense, 
24. 

Food, song birds as, 90 ; the lack of, 
9. 

Fountains, drinking and bathing, 42. 

Foxes, 68. 

Fruit, species desirable on account 
of, 25. 

Fruit and dense foliage, species offer- 
ing, 26. 

Fruit that ripens in summer or 
autumn, 25. 

Fruit that ripens late in autumn, 25. 

Furnishing trees, vines, and shrubs, 
19. 

Futterplatze fur Vogel im Winter. 
Liebe, 63. 

G 

Game birds, the decrease of, 13. 
Game protection from the nature 

lover's point of view, 126. 
Garten vogel, Unsere nutzlichen. 

Kobelt, 40. 
General directions for nesting boxes, 

33. 
General suggestions on tree planting 

for birds, 28. 
Generation, educating the growing, 

96. 
Giessen, bird island at, 29. 
Gravel, 63. 

Gray. Manual of Botany, 22. 
Great blue heron (verses) , 113. 
Green-winged teal, blue-winged or 

(verse), 104. 
Grosbeak, rose-breasted (verse) , 104. 
Grosbeaks, evening, eating snow, 43. 
Growing generation, educating the, 

96. 
Gunners, ubiquitous, 87. 

H 

Hats, birds on, 9, 81. 
Hawks, 68. 

Heron, great blue (verses), 113; 
snowy (verses), 103. 



160 



INDEX 



Homes, our, attracting birds to, 19. 

Hornaday's report, causes for de- 
crease in bird life, 11 ; conclusions 
regarding birds, 122; conclusion 
regarding Western mammals, 138 ; 
per cent of decrease in bird life, 2 ; 
questions sent out, 1 ; recommen- 
dations regarding birds, 123 ; rec- 
ommendations regarding Western 
mammals, 139 ; species reported as 
extinct or becoming extinct, 136. 

House, feeding; for birds (figure), 
60. 

House sparrow, injury caused by, 76. 

Humane Societies in the United 
States and Canada, directory of, 
117. 

Hummingbird (verses), 108. 

Hummingbirds, flowers for, 27. 

Hunt and fish, is it right to, 126. 

Hunting with a camera, 131. 



Illustrated Flora. Brltton and 
Brown, 22. 

Information, miscellaneous, 144. 

Injurious birds and mammals, 10. 

Injury caused by the house sparrow, 
76. 

Is it right to hunt and fish? 126. 

Island, bird ; at Giessen, 29. 

Islands, groves, parks, and woods, 
commemorative of noted ornithol- 
ogists, 95. 



Jay, blue (verses), 117. 
Jays, 70. 

K 

Kobelt. Schutz den Vogeln, 40. 



Lack of food, the, 9. 

Lack of nesting places, 6. 

Lack of water, 7. 

Lake, Loon; in Minnesota, 13. 



Lark, meadow (verses), 118. 
League of American Sportsmen, 

Constitution, extract from, 133; 

directory of officers, 134; purpose 

and principles of, 132. 
Liebe. Futterpliitze fur Vogel im 

Winter, 63. 
Liebe. Nistkasten fur Vogel, 40. 
Lime, 63. 
List of birds from Brattleboro, Vt., 

53. 
List of birds from Cheyenne, Wv., 

79. 
Loon Lake in Minnesota, 13. 

M 

Magazines, 144. 

Mammals, injurious birds and, 10; 
recommendations regarding, Horn- 
aday's report, 139. 

Mammals and birds extinct, or be- 
coming extinct, Hornaday's re- 
port, 136. 

Martin, purple, nesting boxes for, 
38. 

Masefield. Wild Bird Protection, 40. 

Material, nesting, 62. 

Meadow lark (verses), 118. 

Minks, 68. 

Minnesota, bird and arbor day law 
of, 94; estimate of birds for, 3; 
Loon Lake in, 13. 

Miscellaneous, 62. 

Miscellaneous information, 144. 

Mockingbird (verses), 101. 

N 

Natural enemies, protecting the 
birds from their, 64. 

Nature, rural schools and, 30. 

Nature lover's point of view, game 
protection from, 126. 

Nesting boxes, concluding remarks 
on, 40; for bluebirds, 37; chicka- 
dees, 36; creepers, 37; flycatchers, 
38 ; nuthatches, 37 ; small owls, 
38 ; swallows, 38 ; the purple mar- 



INDEX 



161 



tin, 38; the wood duck, 39; tit- 
mice, 36; woodpeckers, 37; wrens, 
36; provide, 33. 

Nesting material, 62. 

Nesting places, lack of, 6. 

Netting, wire; cut on the bias, 66; 
fence of, 65. 

Nistkiisten fiir Vogel. Liebe, 40. 

Noted ornithologists ; islands, groves, 
parks, and woods commemorative 
of, 95. 

Nuthatches, nesting boxes for, 37. 

O 

Officers of the L. A. S., 134. 

Orchard Oriole (verse), 106. 

Oriole, Baltimore (verses), 119; or- 
chard (verse), 106. 

Ornithologists, noted ; islands, groves, 
parks, and woods commemorative 
of, 95. 

Our homes, attracting birds to them, 
19. 

Owl (verses), 117. 

Owls, 68 ; nesting boxes for, 38. 



Parks, public, feeding birds in, 61. 

Parson and Buck. The Wild Flow- 
ers of California, 22. 

Places, nesting, lack of, 6 ; carrion, 
59; field, 58; waste, 30. 

Planting, time for, 20; tree, for 
birds, general suggestions on, 28. 

Planting of evergreens, 20. 

Plant, what to, 19. 

Plants, watering of, 20. 

Poison, use of, in farming and gar- 
dening, 9. 

Principles, purpose and, of the L. 
A. S., 132. 

Protecting birds against cats, 64-67. 

Protecting song birds, etc., 19. 

Protecting the birds from their nat- 
ural enemies, 64. 

Protection, game, from the nature 
lover's point of view, 126. 



Provide nesting boxes, 33. 
Public parks, feeding birds in, 61. 
Purple martin, nesting boxes for, 38. 
Purpose and principles of the L. 
A. S., 132. 



Quail (verse), 116. 

Question, the English sparrow, 72-79. 



R 

Recommendations regarding birds, 
Hornaday's report, 123. 

Recommendations regarding mam- 
mals, Hornaday's report, 139. 

Redbird, tanager and (verse), 116. 

Reel Cedar, burning-bush and (fig- 
ure), 31. 

Red-headed woodpecker at St. Paul, 
4. 

Remarks, concluding, on nesting 
boxes, 40. 

Right, is it, to hunt and fish, 126. 

Robin (verses), 108. 

Rope coil, tarred, 66. 

Rose-breasted grosbeak (verse) , 104. 

Rural schools and nature, 30. 



S 

Sam, Uncle, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 

107, 121 ; the birds before, 99. 
Schools, bird day in the, 98 ; rural, 

and nature, 30. 
Schutz den Vogeln. Kobelt, 40. 
Shelves, bracket; for swallows, 38. 
Shrubs, trees, and vines ; furnishing 

them to birds, 19. 
Skunks, 68. 

Snowy heron (verses) , 103. 
Societies, 145 ; humane, in the United 

States and Canada, directory of, 

147. 
Song birds, as food, 90; causes for 

the decrease of, 6. 
Source of stock, 20. 
Southern United States, Flora of 

the. Chapman, 22. 



162 



INDEX 



Sparrow, English, 0; kept in check 
at Cheyenne, Wy., 75-79 ; (verses) , 
111 ; house ; injury caused by, 76. 

Sparrow question, the English, 72- 
79. 

Special feeding-places, 58. 

Species desirable on account of 
fruit, 25. 

Species offering fruit and dense foli- 
age, 26. 

Species reported as extinct, or be- 
coming extinct, Hornaday's re- 
port, 136. 

Species with copious branching, 24. 

Species with dense foliage, 24. 

Squirrels and chipmunks, 68. 

Stock, source of, 20. 

St. Paul, red-headed woodpecker 
at, 4. 

Stork, black ; of Europe, 16 ; white ; 
in Germany, 15. 

Students, bird ; boys and collectors, 8. 

Suggestions, general ; on tree plant- 
ing for birds, 28. 

Swallows, bracket shelves for, 38; 
(verses), 110. 



Tanager and redbird (verse) , 116. 

Tarred rope coil, 66. 

Teal, blue-winged or green-winged 
(verse), 104. 

Thrasher, brown (verse) , 107. 

Time for planting, 20. 

Titmice, nesting boxes for, 36. 

Tree, birds' Christmas (figure), 57. 

Tree planting for birds, general sug- 
gestions on, 28. 

Tree trunk with barb wire coil (fig- 
ure) , 36. 

Trees, vines, and shrubs ; furnishing 
them to birds, 19. 

Twiners, 20. 

U 

Ubiquitous gunners, 85. 
Uncle Sam, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 
107, 121; the birds before, 99. 



Unsere niitzlichen Garten vogel. Ko- 
belt, 40. 

Use of poison in farming and gar- 
dening, 9. 

V 

Vines, trees, and shrubs; furnish- 
ing them to birds, 19. 

Vogel, Nistkasten fur. Liebe, 40. 

Vogeln, Schutz den. Kobelt, 40. 

Vogelschutzfrage, Die. Borggreve, 
63. 

Voigt. Unsere niitzlichen Garten- 
vogel, 40. 

W 

Waste places, 30. 

Water, lack of, 7. 

Watering of plants, 20. 

Watson, Whitney and. Botany of 

California, 22. 
Weasels, 68. 

Western mammals, conclusions re- 
garding, Hornaday's report, 138. 
What to plant, 19. 
W T hite stork in Germany, 15. 
Whitney and Watson. Botany of 

California, 22. 
Wild Bird Protection. Masefield, 40. 
Wild canary (verses) , 109. 
Wild ducks (verses), 118. 
AVild Flowers, How to know the. 

Mrs. Dana, 22; of California. 

Parson and Buck, 22. 
Wild yam vine (figure), 21. 
Winter, feeding birds in, 46-61. 
W T ire, barb, coil ; tree trunk with 

(figure), 36. 
Wire netting, cut on the bias, 66; 

fence of, 65. 
Wood duck, nesting boxes for, 39. 
Woodpecker, red-headed, at St. 

Paul, 4; (verse), 115. 
Woodpeckers, nesting boxes for, 37. 
Wrens, nesting boxes for, 36. 



Yam vine, wild (figure), 21. 



A HAND BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



BY 

D. LANGE 

Author of "Our Native Birds 



Cloth. i2mo. $1.00, net. 



PRESS COMMENTS 



Wisconsin Journal of Education : 

" It is based on the study of Nature as she presents her- 
self in all her richness and variety, instead of a study of 
classified specimens such as is more commonly undertaken." 

Field and Stream : 

" The book, while intended to help teachers in graded and 
ungraded schools, may be profitably used as a text-book with 
somewhat maturer pupils. . . . Altogether the book is an 
admirable one." 

Inland Educator : 

"The author has succeeded in making a very helpful, prac- 
tically suggestive work for teachers. The topics treated, the 
plans followed, and the illustrations, are all excellent." 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



CITIZEN BIRD 

Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners 
By MABEL 0. WRIGHT 

AND 

DR. ELLIOTT COUES 
Cloth. Cr. 8vo. $1.50, net 



A Guide, in Narrative Form, to the Principal Species of North American 
Birds, with Chapters on Their Anatomy, Economic Value, Habits, etc. 

Profusely Illustrated by LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES 

New York Herald. — " Delightful and at the same time most instructive." 
Chicago Tribune. — -"There is no other book in existence so well fitted for arousing 
and directing the interest that all children feel toward the birds." 



BIRDCRAFT 

A Field-Book of Two Hundred Song, Game, and 
Water Birds 

By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 

WITH 

Eighty Full=page Plates by LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES 

Small 4to. $2.50, net 



The Outlook. — "One of the most useful and beautiful books about nature which has 
yet come from the press." 

Inter-Ocean. — ". . . Its excellences have already won the commendation of all natur- 
alists. . . . Such fineness of truth, such accuracy of drawing, could only be the 
work of genius — not genius which is simply the capacity for hard work, but genius 
which is innate, heaven-commissioned, ' inbreathed by the life breather,' by the maker 
and teacher of men and nature alike." 

Chautauquan. — " One of the best books that amateurs in the study of ornithology can 
find . . . direct, forcible, plain, and pleasing." 

Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston. — " Of books on birds there are many, all more 
or less valuable, but ' Birdcraft,' by Mabel O. Wright, has peculiar merits that will 
endear it to amateur ornithologists. ... A large number of excellent illustrations 
throw light on the text and help to make a book that will arouse the delight and win 
the gratitude of every lover of birds." 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



2 1899 



